


Runaway

by dyiansobrien



Series: Harper Verum Series [3]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Bisexual Lydia Martin, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Friends to Lovers, Teen Wolf Season 4, Teen Wolf season 5, bisexual oc, isaac stays in the show
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-14 12:15:23
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 45
Words: 134,783
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29542215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dyiansobrien/pseuds/dyiansobrien
Summary: [ BOOK 3 out of 5 ] ✧Evil never seemed to rest in Beacon Hills, so as soon as the Nogitsune issue had been dealt with, it was onto the next one; perhaps a deadlier one. Harper Verum and her supernatural friends find themselves on a hit list, leading them to fight for their lives on the daily.Problems continue to arise when Valack decides now is the time to finish his experiments, as well as when new boy Theo Raeken makes a return, quickly gaining distrust from Stiles and creating problems for the pack.One thing is certain; senior year is not going to be easy for Harper and her friends.
Relationships: Isaac Lahey/Malia Tate, Stiles Stilinski/Original Female Character(s)
Series: Harper Verum Series [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2165103
Kudos: 2





	1. Chapter 1

"ARE YOU SCARED?"

Harper Verum was visibly startled by the question that slipped past Stiles Stilinski's lips and into the silence, her dainty hand snapping away from where it had been fiddling with the bottom of her summer dress. Her boyfriend sent her a sheepish smile as she glanced over at him, silently apologising for making her jump.

"Not really," the short brunette responded before thinking about it harder, "I don't know."

It was honestly hard for her to think straight as the scorching sun went through the windows of the jeep and cast down onto her exposed skin. Even the little material that covered her body felt like too much. She wanted to strip down into her bra and underwear and lay on the roof of the car, however, there seemed to be a lot of creepy men around.

For about two hours now the couple had been cooped up in the jeep, waiting for darkness to cloak the small town they were parked outside. Lydia Martin sat in the back, concentrated on fixing her hair as it became slightly frizzy from the humidity of Mexico's heat. The rest of their friends were out in the town, preparing for the night. It was just a matter of time now.

"We're going to be fine," Stiles reassured her softly, reaching his large hand out and placing it on top of hers.

It was slightly sweaty, but Harper didn't mind. Instead, she sent him a small smile, leaning forwards and pecking his cheek.

The group had noticed how affectionate Harper and Stiles had been towards each other since the whole mess with the Nogistune had blown over, however, nobody said anything to the couple. It was nice to see them so in love and happy with each other, it was actually refreshing after everything that had happened recently.

The others had no idea why, though. Stiles didn't really like to leave Harper alone much after the whole situation at the cliff edge. They hadn't mentioned it since it was obvious Harper didn't want to talk about her moment of weakness with him or anyone for that matter. But that didn't stop him from worrying. After all, he was her boyfriend, it was what he was meant to do.

"What if the plan goes wrong?" The Empath stressed further, "Malia's still pretty new to people and stuff. What if she—"

"Malia will be fine," Stiles promised, "you've spent the last month mentoring her so well, Harps. Between you, Scott and I helping her, I think she'll do well."

Harper swallowed but nodded, sinking back into the chair. She tried to convince herself of Stiles' words, repeating them over and over again in her head.

The werecoyote had enrolled at Beacon Hills High about a week after Allison's death, quickly joining the pack due to her connections with Harper and Stiles. While Scott and Stiles helped her control her supernatural side, Harper taught the taller brunette how to function like a normal human being in society. It had been a long few weeks, but she had done well. Hopefully, it was enough.

"I don't think Malia's going to be the problem," Lydia huffed from the backseat, "I think it's the plan that's the problem."

Stiles scoffed loudly, an incredulous expression falling upon his face. He glanced at the other teenage girl through the mirror.

"The plan?" The Stilinski boy repeated distastefully, "What's wrong with the plan?"

Lydia sent a look his way, "you realise this is possibly the worst plan you've come up with, right?"

Hesitantly, he replied, "I'm aware it's not our best."

Harper began to pick at the paint coating her nails, wincing when she heard Lydia take a sharp intake of breath. The pair had been bickering on and off for the past couple of hours since the others had left, however, the brunette tended to keep out of it. The last thing she wanted was to pick between her boyfriend and one of her best friends.

"We're going to die," the strawberry blonde deadpanned.

Her words weren't reassuring to the teenagers in the front seats. They were already nervous as it was, knowing exactly who they would be messing with as soon as they set foot through those doors.

"Are you saying that as a pessimist or as a banshee?" Harper finally spoke up, her brows furrowed as she dropped the fingers she had fiddling with.

Lydia responded with a smirk, "I'm saying it as somebody who doesn't want to die."

Harper groaned, her head dropping back against the seat again. If only Lydia could reply with an actual answer, then maybe the situation wouldn't be so stressful. Stiles also rolled his hazel eyes.

"Okay, let's stop talking about death," Stiles insisted, starting to drum his fingers against the steering wheel, "unless it's an actual banshee feeling."

Lydia just smiled even more sickly sweet. "This plan is stupid and we're going to die."

Harper could only hope Lydia was wrong.

...

"HARPER, IS THAT YOU?"

The brunette whirled around at the girl's voice that echoed around her, her dark eyes not landing on a single figure in the public bathroom she was in. She had thought it was empty, but clearly not. Harper recognised the voice, however, she couldn't pinpoint it.

"Hello?" Harper called back, "Lydia?" She guessed.

"No, no, Harper, it's me," the voice came out more frantic, and like a switch in Harper's brain, everything clicked, "it's me! It's me, Allison."

"Allison?" Harper breathed in disbelief, "where are you? Why can't I see you?"

Panic swelled in the Empath's chest as she opened every stall in the bathroom, finding nobody in return. The voice didn't reply either, leaving Harper in an overwhelming silence.

"Allison!?"

The main door to the toilets opened and Lydia marched in, a concerned look tracing all of her features.

"It's time, Harper," she announced fearfully before furrowing her brows, "Allison's with Scott and the others, remember?"

Harper's eyebrows raised, "what are you talking about, Lydia? Allison's not with Scott, Allison's dead—"

Lydia took a step back, "you're creeping me out Harps. She was dead, but the two of us figured it out, remember?"

"No," the Empath replied incredulously, "that never happened! Ally isn't alive, but I did just hear her voice and she sounded scared—"

"Snap out of it, Harper," Lydia warned.

"Harper," Stiles nudged her arm, causing her eyes to snap open, "it's time for the plan."

Harper licked her dry lips and sat up straighter in her seat from where she had fallen asleep. Blinking the sleep away, Harper quickly forgot about her strange dream when she realised that night had fallen. Not only was the sky pitch black, but the air was also chilly.

Goosebumps rose on her bare arms and legs as she pulled the summer dress down slightly, trying to cover up the best she could. Stiles noticed her discomfort and shrugged off the plaid shirt he had over his maroon one.

"Take my shirt," Stiles handed it to her, "I have another jacket in the back, don't worry."

Lydia turned her nose up from the backseat as Harper climbed out of the car, rolling up the long sleeves to her elbows. The dark colours contrasted against her mustard yellow dress disgustingly, not to mention how each item of clothing was from two very different seasons.

As the strawberry blonde got out to stand next to her best friend, Stiles grabbed a black denim jacket from the back of the jeep and shrugged it on. He grabbed the stacks of money out of the bag and into his pockets. Surprisingly, it didn't make them bulge.

"It's show time," Harper whispered anxiously, wiping her sweaty palms down her sides.

Stiles squeezed her shoulder, "let's do this."

...

HUGGING STILES' PLAID SHIRT CLOSER TO HER BODY, Harper followed alongside her boyfriend and Lydia as they strolled down the nearly empty street of the town, trying to act as natural as possible. Harper saw their destination coming up close, two men stood outside the door with their arms folded firmly across their chests.

As the three teenagers approached, the men stared them down like hawks, almost as if they were daring for one of them to speak up. Without a trace of fear in her voice, Lydia began to talk to the one with the leather jacket, saying something in perfect Spanish. Harper had no idea what she had asked, something to do with a party, but the man pursed his lips and shook his head.

Sighing, Stiles reached into the back pocket of his jeans and produced a card that had the hunters family symbol on it. The man's arms dropped to his side, his protective stance faltering. Stiles followed his eyes, seeing that the man was gesturing towards the security camera hidden in the corner.

Holding the card up so the camera could see it, the teens waited a second before the door clicked and opened from behind the men. Harper sent them an appreciative nod as she and Lydia walked in, following close behind Stiles who had decided to lead the way.

The door slammed shut behind them and Harper found herself in the middle of a very dimly lit, narrow hallway. It was painted crimson red and black, the only source of light coming from the candlesticks nailed to them. They shook from the bass in the room over, distant sounds of music seeping through the walls.

"God, this place is creepy," Harper muttered under her breath as the three of them began to slowly approach the door, her nose crinkling up as she added, "and what's that smell?"

Lydia shuddered, "who knows?"

Silently, Stiles reached down and clasped Harper's hand with his, his slender fingers intertwining with her much shorter ones. She looked down at his gesture but said nothing. As they made it to the door, Stiles looked down at Harper. She nodded.

That was all he needed before he pushed the door open, consequently entering a whole new universe. Music roared in their ears and strobe lights flashed in their eyes as young people danced all around them, ignoring all of their problems and getting drunk off their asses. The stench of alcohol and sweat hung in the air, much to Harper's nose's dismay.

Knowing that the rest of the pack were somewhere inside the crowds of people made her feel a lot better, almost to the point of relaxing as she stood beside Stiles. Lydia called something about going somewhere, but Harper couldn't make it out over the sounds of cheering and music. It was like Danny's Halloween party multiplied by ten.

Stiles and Harper followed close behind the strawberry blonde, making sure not to get lost in the masses of people. Eventually, they found three stools at the bar and took their seats. Now it was just up to the hunters to approach them. They knew they would as soon as they saw how out of place they looked, which was part of the plan.

The bartender noticed them and slammed three shot glasses down on the table in front of the teenagers. Stiles looked startled for a second before he reached into his pocket for his wallet to pay.

"No," he was interrupted by hands clamping down on his and Lydia's shoulders, "on the house," the deep voice insisted.

Shrugging a little, Harper's hand reached forward to wrap around the shot glass, only for it to get slapped by Stiles. He looked down at her incredulously, squinting his eyes as if to ask how someone so smart could still be so stupid. Harper winced and nodded, retracting her hand.

The older man raised a brow, "most American teenagers don't cross the border to refuse a drink."

"We didn't come to drink," Lydia stated seriously, reaching into the pocket of her jacket and grabbing the bullet they had found in Derek's loft when they realised he had gone missing.

She dropped it into one of the shot glasses, the mood changing immediately.

...

"Severo hates this music," Araya Calavera insisted as she pulled the stitching of a plain piece of cloth apart using a knife, "me? I've always loved the music of youth."

She pulled one stitch particularly hard, the knife gripped tighter in her hand. Despite her age, she seemed terrifying, like a female version of Gerard Argent. Her hunting status only made Harper, Stiles and Lydia more nervous as they sat in chairs on the other side of her desk, aware of the eyes watching them all.

"This kind, especially," she carried on, her Mexican accent thick, "it has a savage energy."

"We're here for Derek Hale," Lydia tried to speak confidently, her voice faltering a little, "we know you have him."

"Is that so?" The woman hummed, no other words escaping her thin lips.

Harper glanced at Stiles before straightening up in her seat, "we've heard you can be bought," she cut in, sending her boyfriend a nod.

Reaching into the pockets of his black denim jacket, Stiles began to pull out the wads of cash he had been hiding, placing them all down onto the table in front of them. The Empath watched Araya closely, waiting for any slipup that could indicate she was going to accept their offer, except Harper could only feel the smugness radiating off of her.

"That's fifty thousand for Derek," Stiles announced.

"Now," Araya leaned forward, placing the knife down onto the oak desk beneath her hands, "where does a teenage boy get money like this? Japanese mafia?"

Harper visibly jumped as the hunters surrounding them all began to cock their guns threateningly, her palms starting to sweat. Even after all of this time the thought of a gun still repulsed her and made her want to run. Stiles placed his hand down reassuringly on her knee from under the table.

"Not smart to come alone," the woman grinned.

Stiles smirked, tilting his head cockily, "what makes you think we came alone?"

Harper watched as Araya's face fell, panic starting to settle in as well as confusion. It came from the hunters surrounding them too, making her a feel a little more comfortable now that her friends had taken back a little more control.

Araya stood up from her seat, causing it to scrape back quickly. Her hands were flat down on the desk as she leaned over, glaring at the three teenagers in disgust and fury. "You brought a wolf into my home?"

Harper cleared her throat, "we brought an Alpha."

There was a heavy silence before Araya nodded towards a few of the hunters, silently ordering them to leave and look for the intruders. The older woman began to pace, her boots clicking on the floor as the trio waited for her next words.

"My friends," she sighed, "I don't think you're aware of your poor timing. Do you know what the dark moon is?"

Lydia replied instantly, "the part of the Lunar phase when the moon is least visible in the sky."

"But do you know its meaning?" Arya pressed.

"Some people say its a time of reflection," Lydia continued hesitantly, "or grief."

"Grief and loss, mija," the hunter placed her hands on the back of her seat as she watched them mockingly, "I wonder why, when you and your friends have suffered so much loss, you would risk it again for someone like Derek Hale."

"Cause we don't like to lose," Stiles insisted.

The conversation was cut short by one of the walkie-talkies going off, a man saying something in Spanish before following it up with, "front door clear," and then, "south clear."

"North?" one of the hunters asked down the radio, receiving no reply, "Norte? Norte?"

Then came the crackled static sounds on the other side before a very familiar voice spoke up, "Stiles. Take ten off the table."

Harper smiled slightly at the plan working. Scott had obviously taken out some of the guards and now they all had a form of communication. Now they just had to wait it out until Araya panicked and took the money, giving them the location of Derek in return.

Stiles listened to the alpha, reaching forward and taking off the said amount of money. He slipped it back into his jacket, daring to maintain eye contact with Araya.

"Maybe you should just take the deal," the strawberry blonde suggested from next to Harper.

Arya smiled, "while I am keen to follow the warning of a banshee, I'm going to have to decline."

Harper felt a little defeated, realising this lady was going to be hard to crack. She clearly had set morals and beliefs, otherwise she wouldn't be a hunter. The pack should have realised this beforehand- thought of something more valuable to her than fifty thousand dollars.

"Alright right, come on," Stiles tried to reason with the older hunter, "just give us Derek. You don't want him anyway. Haven't you noticed what a downer he is?"

Harper stuck her bottom lip out slightly and nodded her head in agreement, "never laughs, he's got no sense of humour."

"Poor conversationalist," Stiles added, "just come on, take the money."

Araya stared at the couple for a second before grabbing the walkie-talkie off of the desk.

"Severo? Show them how the Calaveras negotiate."


	2. Chapter 2

Stiles' eyes widened as a pair of large hands clamped down on his shoulders, preventing him from struggling. His hand reached out to grab Harper's as Severo began to pull Stiles from his seat. The Empath turned in her chair, grabbing onto her boyfriend's wrist.

"Stiles," she called as her boyfriend was tugged harshly away from her, "where are you taking him?"

Araya couldn't get a word in before Stiles began to yell at the man in his usual Stiles manner. His long legs dragged on the floor underneath him, refusing to cooperate as the man placed his arms underneath Stiles. They got to the doorway before Stiles managed to grab the frame.

"Let me go," he yelled, "don't touch them."

Harper swallowed her fear as Stiles was pulled one last time, his body disappearing, his calls now just an echo in the hallway. The door slammed, immediately cutting off any noise Stiles or Severo had been making. Lydia quickly grabbed her best friend's hand, squeezing it.

"What do you want with us?" Lydia snapped, her jaw clenched.

Araya smiled almost creepily, "why don't the three of us ladies have a chat somewhere else. Somewhere a little nicer, eh?"

Harper and Lydia exchanged nervous glances, knowing for a fact that Araya wasn't asking them, she was telling them.

...

HARPER WAS SHOCKED TO FIND THAT WHEN THEY LEFT THE CLUB IT WAS MORNING. The sun was high in the sky, beaming down on her back as she sat down on the garden chair on the porch of the Calaveras' property. She'd shrugged off Stiles' plaid shirt as she sat beside Lydia, looking around with nervous brown eyes.

People were going about their business while the two men from outside the club last night guarded the two girls, guns in their hands as they made sure none of the public came towards them. Lydia kept a protective hand on Harper's leg as Araya walked over, taking a seat on the other side of the small table.

A basket of fruits, bread and cheeses sat in the middle, however, Harper daren't touch any of it- not that she wanted to anyway. Araya placed a cup down in front of her and started pouring tea from a ceramic teapot.

"I must admit," Araya began, placing the pot down beside her, "I don't have very much experience with banshees."

"That makes two of us since I don't have much experience being one," Lydia replied shortly, trying to get across to the hunter that she was barely a threat.

Araya chuckled a little, squinting her eyes at Harper, "and what about you?"

Harper shook her head, "I'm not a banshee."

"I can sense that you are something," the older woman raised her thin brows, "something... rare, perhaps?"

Harper remained silent, her lips pursed. Telling this woman that she was an Empath, one of the last of that, was potentially life-threatening. Just like Victoria Argent had been, she could be thirsty for a higher status in the supernatural hunting world. Harper wondered how much taking the last of the Empaths out would really be.

"Ah... So I am right," the sadistic smile never left Araya's wrinkled face, "tell me, Harper, what is your last name?"

Swallowing thickly, Harper replied, "why does it matter?"

"Maybe because if you do not tell me, I will have Severo ask your little boyfriend. I'm sure he will not give the name up too easily either, will he? Perhaps a little torture would get him to talk..."

"Verum," Harper didn't need any more threatening, that was enough when it came to Stiles, "it's Verum."

Araya's grin widened, "Empath. What a treat. I'll admit that you are the first I have ever met, Harper. How experienced are you in your species?"

"She's not, just like how I have no clue about banshees. Can we go?" Lydia cut in, her foot tapping nervously under the table, her lips pursed in annoyance and anxiety.

"I have a feeling you underestimate your abilities, Lydia," Araya raised her eyebrows and took a large gulp of the steaming cup of tea in her hands.

"Trust me," the strawberry blonde scoffed, "you'd have better luck with tarot cards."

"Let's find out," the red-haired lady shifted her eyes in the direction of the two men keeping guard, "tell me, which of these men is about to die?"

Harper's heart dropped as Lydia glanced over at the men, her green eyes wide. Harper's gaze flickered down to the knife in Araya's hand. Just as she thought she was about to stab one of them, she picked out an orange from the bowl in the middle of the table and started to peel it.

"How does it work?" Araya asked, "do you need to touch them? Maybe I give you something they own. Or is it... just a feeling?"

"I told you," Lydia stated hopelessly, "I don't know."

"Just how close to death do they have to be?" Araya questioned, tapping the blade, "and Harper, will you feel it?"

Harper bit down on her lip, "depends."

"On?"

"How much I concentrate," she breathed shakily, her palms starting to sweat as she watched Araya's grip on the knife tighten, "don't-"

She was cut off by the sound of an object whirling through the air. The man with the buzz cut fell to his knees with a loud grunt, his hands wrapping around the weapon sticking out of his chest. Lydia released a short scream, jumping out of the seat. Harper placed her hand on her own chest, feeling the dull ache.

The man passed quickly, she could tell.

"What did you do that for?" Lydia shrieked.

"He stole from me," Araya faked a pout.

Harper stood up next to her best friend, "what do you want from us?"

"Right now?" Araya hummed, "I want to know about Scott McCall. I want to know what kind of alpha he really is."

...

HARPER STRUGGLED AGAINST THE STRONG MAN, BUT TO NO AVAIL. She and Lydia were shoved into a room behind Araya, a gasp escaping Harper's lips when she saw the sight in front of her. Scott sat in a chair, chains on his wrists and a worn out look on his face. Harper's eyes met his, the two friends who were actually more like siblings exchanging a look of worry.

"Let them go," Scott ordered, struggling against the chains, "look. You've got me, just let the others go."

Harper was held back by the six-foot-something man as Lydia was strapped into a seat next to Scott. The man placed a chain around one of Harper's wrists but forced her to stand off to the side a little. Another man entered the room with Kira Yukimura in his arms. He forced her hand onto some dials on a stand.

"Your hand goes here," he commanded gruffly, ignoring her tears, "so let me explain what's about to happen. This one, the fox, has an immunity to electricity. So she's going to turn the dial on the alpha. If she doesn't, I turn the dial on the banshee."

"Why am I bloody here then?" Harper hissed, trying to relax her hand to get it through the chains.

Her hands were tiny enough to fit through some of the cuffs that she, Stiles and Scott used to mess around with at the sheriff's station, however these chains were much harsher. She could feel them digging into her skin unforgivingly.

Araya spoke up from where she stood between Lydia and Scott, her arms folded against her chest. She wore the same sadistic smirk she had been sporting all day as she looked over at the struggling teenage girl.

"You, Harper, are just part of the experiment," Araya came over and placed what looked like a monitor around her wrist, "I want to know about your kind. This... This is perfect."

Harper gulped as the woman's eyes cast down to ring on her hand. Araya's hand left her wrist and moved to the Verum family ring, the same one that helped her to control the amount of pain she felt. It was the only reason she didn't choke up when the man was stabbed earlier.

"A family ring," she hummed, sliding it off like Void Stiles had done, "I would love to know more about your family, Harper."

Harper scoffed bitterly, "me too, but it's kinda messy."

"One of your friends has the power to heal," the man reminded Kira as she tried to struggle out of his grip, "the other... not so much."

"But what about Harper?" Kira cried, "either way..."

"What? Is this a game to you?" Scott spat angrily at the hunters.

Araya clapped her hands together, "this is a test, Lobito. Let's see if you pass. We're going to ask some questions. You answer them, nobody gets hurt. You don't answer them, we turn on the dial. So, potentially, the little Empath may feel nothing."

Scott pursed his lips and looked over at Harper, "disconnect yourself the best you can," he then looked to Kira, "and do whatever they say. I can take it."

Harper exhaled heavily, realising the Calaveras' little game was about to start. She bunched her fists up and focused as hard as she could on not connecting to Scott or Lydia, or anyone else in the room for that matter.

"So..." Araya began, "we don't know where Derek is. We want to find him as well. You know who took him."

"What?" Scott breathed in disbelief, "how would I know that?"

Araya winced, "that doesn't sound like an answer to me."

"We don't know," Lydia defended the McCall boy, "why do you think we came here?"

"Kira," Araya called before an agonisingly long pause, "turn the dial."

Harper bit down on her bottom lip, closing her eyes as she heard Kira begin to quietly protest, pleading not to. Leaning her head against the wall, Harper concentrated as hard as she could, however, everything went back to the situation she was currently in.

"Should we turn the dial on Lydia instead?" Araya threatened.

"No, no!" Scott yelled protectively, "do it, Kira. Do it."

There was a heavy silence, Harper heard Araya tell Kira to start at one, however she was too in the zone to break her concentration. Her thoughts remained solely on her boyfriend, her anchor. She thought about him as hard as she could, the look in his eyes as they were pulled away from each other just hours ago.

In the background, she could faintly hear the noises of Scott grunting and electricity crackling, almost as if tempting her to take a peek. To forget about Stiles, to feel the emotion and pain. Harper knew she couldn't, not without that stupid ring on. That ring was the only thing that stopped her from feeling excruciating pain, minimising it to a stinging ache instead. However, without it, she was screwed.

"Tell me!" She heard Araya yell, "who actually has Derek? Who had a reason, a vendetta, particular to the Hales?"

Scott panted, "I said, I don't know."

"Who had the power? The power of a shapeshifter?"

Harper began to feel her body heat up. It was like a rash at first, before it was tingling, and then stinging, but then- burning. Any thoughts of those hazel eyes were replaced with the pain shooting through her veins, the same pain Scott was being forced to endure. As Kira turned up the dial, the pain in the room came too much for her Empath senses to ignore, no matter how hard she tried.

"Harper!" Lydia choked as she watched the brunette collapse and start to shake.

"Someone who could have turned without knowing, turned but not by a bite!" Arya continued to scream.

Harper cried out, tears streaming down her cheeks and mixing with the layer of sweat that covered her body. Her body convulsed irregularly, sparks shooting from the metal around her wrist. The only reason she wasn't dead right now was because it was Scott she was connected to, and he had the ability to endure stuff like this. Had it been her own body taking it first hand, she would have been unconscious ages ago.

"I don't know!" Scott seethed through the pain.

"Diez!"

When Kira refused, Araya rushed behind the dial and turned it herself. Harper thought she was honestly going to die there and then. Or at least she hoped she would. Death would be so much better than this pain. Scott's eyes flickered red before he managed to finally rip the chains off, releasing a roar that everybody in the room felt rattle inside them.

Harper gasped for air, trying to control her breathing and sore muscles as the pain suddenly went, only leaving her with the aftermath. She thought she was going to throw up, her brown eyes almost shut as she pressed her cheek against the cool concrete of the ground beneath her.

"Say the name, Scott."

Scott panted a name Harper thought she'd never have to hear again.

"Kate."

...

THE PACK, MINUS SCOTT, STOOD AGAINST THE POWDER BLUE JEEP, THANKFUL TO HAVE FINALLY BEEN RELEASED FROM THE CALAVERAS A WHOLE TWENTY-FOUR HOURS LATER. Stiles had Harper tucked under his arm safely while he watched the alpha talk with Araya about fifty metres away. He couldn't hear what they were saying, but of course Malia Tate and Isaac Lahey could due to their supernatural enhancements.

Harper was glad that the pair had decided to come along with them. Malia didn't even know Derek and she wasn't the kindest of people to anyone but Harper, it had taken quite a bit of convincing to get her help. Isaac had been the one to enforce the trip after discovering the disappearance of his alpha, however had he of left to France with Chris Argent as he had planned on doing, he might not be here right now.

Stiles' slender fingers traced patterns absentmindedly on Harper's bare arm, his hazel eyes still focused on Scott. She let her head fall onto his chest, her eyes closing from a mixture of tiredness and the burning sun.

"You okay?" Her boyfriend murmured for the hundredth time that day, looking down at her.

Harper nodded, "I'm fine, Sti. What do you think Scott's saying to Araya?"

"Hopefully he's telling her stupid ass off," the Stilinski boy muttered distastefully, "wait, did she even give you your ring back?"

The brunette lifted her hand, showing off her family ring and freshly painted nails. Lydia had taken a few bottles with her, along with half her vanity table, and ended up getting bored the ride over, forcing Harper to model the new colours. Currently, she was sporting a baby blue, however knowing Lydia by the time they got back to Beacon Hills it could be on the opposite end of the colour spectrum.

"Actually, he's not telling her off. She's telling him off," Isaac spoke up, butting into the couple's conversation.

Harper shot the taller boy an incredulous look, so he explained.

"She told him she would let him go, but the second he bites an innocent, she will come after him. I don't think Scott has anything to worry about there."

Harper hummed in agreement, catching the disappointed look on Malia's face, "what's wrong, Malia?"

The werecoyote scoffed, "I can't hear what they're saying. I can't focus when other people are talking, and it sucks."

Just as the brunette went to comfort her friend, Isaac smirked, "wanna kiss me again and see if that helps your little concentration issue?"

Malia growled at him, her eyes flashing an electric blue colour. Both Stiles and Harper lurched forwards, grabbing Malia before she could try and attack Isaac. The pair had been on and off bickering the entire trip, Isaac constantly making comments to purposely set off Malia's fragile temper.

"Isaac, can you not?" Lydia groaned from where she stood with Kira leaning against the keep, a lock of strawberry blonde hair curling around her finger, "I swear to god, you two act like a couple of fifth graders in love."

Malia laughed sarcastically, "I do not love him!"

"Clearly," Stiles muttered under his breath, pulling Malia back with one last tug.

"What happened?" Harper raised her eyebrows, slightly amused, "you two kissed?"

Malia rolled her eyes, "it was a moment of weakness. I needed to concentrate and he was just there. I guess it could have been Stiles, had he been close enough."

Stiles' eyes widened and Harper scowled slightly, "no, Malia. No kissing Stiles."

"Why not?"

"Wha- what do you mean 'why not'?" Harper spluttered, chuckling sarcastically, "Stiles is my boyfriend, remember? Like, how you wouldn't want anyone else getting close to your mate."

"But I can kiss anyone else?" Malia chirped.

Harper ran a hand through her hair, not really believing that she was having this conversation with Malia right here, right now. She was aware of her snickering friends but blocked them out. Malia amused them all, no doubt, and Harper's frustration when it came to teaching Malia basic concepts could be even better sometimes.

"If they say yes," Harper nodded.

"Even girls?"

"If they say yes."

"Have you ever kissed a girl?" Malia asked, consequently causing a wave of dread to wash over the shorter brunette.

She bit down on her bottom lip, "doesn't matter," she said quickly, "maybe we should get back to Scott now. See what he's up to."

"He's still talking to Araya," Malia shrugged, "it's a basic question, just answer, Harper."

Harper was deadly aware of all of her friends staring, particularly Stiles. She heard Lydia snort and turned to face her, pointing a finger at the strawberry blonde.

"This is not funny," she warned, before sighing, "yes, okay? I have. If you want to kiss girls, you can."

"Woah, woah, woah," Stiles' hand went around her arm before she could move over to Scott, a deep frown on his face, "you kissed a girl? When?"

Harper sighed, "when we were broken up, obviously. I was drunk off my face, I thought it was you, but it was actually Lydia-"

"Lydia?" Stiles, Isaac, Kira and Malia all cried at once, turning to look at the smug strawberry blonde.

Lydia sent a mocking wave at Stiles, "oh, don't worry, it was only about twenty seconds."

"Twent- twenty seconds," Stiles breathed, running a hand through his hair, "you two made out and continued to hang out like it was nothing? That's- that's like the equivalent to Scott and I making out!"

Isaac grimaced, "yeah... I'd rather think about Harper and Lydia making out."

Stiles glared at the werewolf, "do not start thinking about my girlfriend making out with another girl."

Isaac couldn't control the grin crossing his face, "stop me."

It was Malia's turn to grab Stiles as he went for Isaac, Harper sighing and shaking her head. It was bound to come out sooner or later, she was just thankful Stiles wasn't exploding with anger. He didn't really have the right to since he had broken up with her, but still. He was more struggling to comprehend it than get mad about it.

Harper walked off, leaving the rest of the pack bickering in the background. Scott met her halfway, a hopeful look on his face that took away some of the dread Harper was still experiencing.

"What now?" She asked, "how do we find Derek if Kate has him?"

"Well, she thinks she knows where we can find him," Scott explained to the Empath.

"Great," Harper smiled, "where is it?"

"Actually, she's giving us a guide," the alpha replied, seemingly confused.

"Who?"

As if on cue, a motorcycle came into the street and headed towards the group. It braked right in between Scott, Harper and the rest of the pack, causing them to jump apart from their tiny argument. Everybody stared as the woman got off of the bike, sliding her helmet off.

Stiles looked over at Scott, "you know her?"

"Braeden," Isaac replied, "the girl that saved me from the alpha pack."

"Who's Braeden?" Malia asked as if the dark-skinned girl wasn't right there.

"She's a mercenary," Lydia responded.

"Right now I'm the only one that's going to take you to la Iglesia," Braedan told the teenagers, holding the helmet under her arm.

"The church?" The strawberry blonde translated.

"What's at the church?" Stiles asked.

"It's not a place you'll find god."


	3. Chapter 3

HARPER HAD HER EYES CLOSED, HER HEAD TILTED BACK AS SHE BATHED IN THE SUN COMING THROUGH THE JEEP WINDOWS. As somebody who had been brought up in England, a little bit of sun was always valued. Maybe moving to California should have changed her, but it hadn', she still soaked up every little bit she could get.

The wheels rumbled on the dirt roads beneath her, a slightly awkward silence filling the jeep, although the brunette chose to sit back and ignore it. Stiles sat next to her in the driver's seat, of course, while Malia, Kira and Lydia all sat in the back in silence. Her boyfriend had a stern eye on Braeden's bike as he followed it, occasionally looking in his mirror back at Scott and Isaac who were following on their bikes.

"Okay, I'll ask," Malia sat forward, her head through the seats in between the teenage couple, "who's Kate Argent?"

Harper cracked open an eye, almost jumping in surprise when she saw how close the other girl was to her. She sat up straight, peeking back at Kira who also raised her hand nervously.

"Um, I'd like to know, too," the Japanese girl requested shyly.

Stiles looked back at them in the mirror, "well, Harper, Scott and I were at her funeral. So, I would like to know how she got out of the casket that was buried six feet underground."

Harper sighed, her elbow resting on the door of the jeep while her hand massaged her forehead, finally having enough of the heat.

"She must have never been in it to start off with," the Empath scoffed, "you know, the cemetery owner clearly isn't very good at making sure the bodies are actually in the coffins. My dad, Kate. Who's next?"

Kira's brows furrowed, "wait, what happened with your dad?"

"Long story," Harper murmured distastefully, "he's locked up now, don't worry about it."

There was a pause before Lydia answered Malia's original question, "she was Allison's aunt. And a total sociopath."

The deceased hunter's name seemed to ring in Harper's ears a second too long, her lips pursing together as she looked out at the miles of deserts surrounding them. Images of the dream she had had yesterday flooded her brain, and similar ones like that. It seemed since the girl had died, she had appeared in Harper's dreams- her and Lydia, that is. Never anybody else.

"You don't have to talk about it if you don't want to," Kira's eyes softened upon seeing how the three original members' of Scott's pack had reacted to Kate.

"Um, yes, they do," Malia protested.

"All right, Kate was the one who set the fire that killed most of Derek's family," Stiles began to explain.

"Some of the Hale's survived," Harper added, "Cora, Laura, Peter."

"A very angry Peter," Lydia scoffed.

"He's the one that bit and turned Scott the night before sophomore year," the Empath continued, "and then he bit me a few weeks later."

"And he's the one who caught up to Kate and killed her," the strawberry blonde recalled what everybody had told her, despite being in the hospital unconscious when it had happened, "or supposedly."

A heavy silence filled the jeep. They drove that way for another few minutes, but eventually, the silence had to be broken. Even with most of the story, the newer members of the pack still had questions, which was to be expected.

"So, Kate's a werewolf now?" Kira hummed.

"I don't know," Harper replied, looking out of the window, "not everybody turns into a werewolf. Lydia and I didn't because of our families, but some people take on the shape of the kind of person they reflect."

"What kind of shape is sociopathic bitch?" Lydia retorted.

There was no time for a sarcastic reply from any of the teenagers as the jeep suddenly jolted. Stiles' hands gripped for control on the wheel, but the car slid outwards and came to an abrupt stop on the side of the dirt road. Harper held onto her seatbelt tightly, eyes wide as she heard the bikes squeal to a halt from behind them.

"What the hell?' Harper cried, unbuckling her belt.

She went to get out, but Stiles grabbed her wrist and forced her to look back at him.

"Are you okay? Did you get hurt?" He asked quickly.

"I'm fine," the brunette insisted as the others clambered out of the vehicle, "are you?"

Stiles nodded, running a hand through his hair, "yeah, yeah, I'm good."

The pair let go of each other and Stiles rushed to see what had happened to his baby. He squinted his eyes to see through the dust clouds his wheels had created, as Scott, Isaac and Braeden jogged over, helmets under their arms.

"What was that?" Breaden demanded to know.

"I don't know, it felt like we hit something," the Stilinski boy replied, slightly panicked as he began to look under the jeep.

"Scott, we need to get there by night, it's too dangerous otherwise," the dark-skinned woman reminded the alpha, shaking her head.

Scott looked between his friends, or more importantly Stiles and Harper, and Braeden. He knew which decision he had to make as a good person, but he also knew the one he wanted to make as a good friend.

"Go," Stiles insisted.

"Not without you," Scott shook his head.

"Scott, Derek needs you," Harper reminded him, "and god knows it won't be Stiles or me to sniff him out."

Stiles nodded in agreement, "yeah, we'll think of something, we always do, just go."

Without another word, Scott turned back to his motorcycle and started to head towards it. Isaac also began to mount his, slipping the helmet back over his head. Kira rushed towards the Hispanic boy before he could leave.

"Scott, I can't think of anything else to say except for be careful," the teenage girl rushed to get her words out, "and I know 'be careful' sounds kinda lame and I'm totally sure the second you're gone I'm gonna think of something much better, but I..."

"'Be careful' works for me," Scott told her with an amused smile.

Kira wrapped her arms around him into a tight hug. Harper audibly awed, causing the couple to break apart and look at her awkwardly. She sent them a panicked smile and turned back to see what her friends were doing, finding Stiles and Lydia with the hood up and looking through parts Harper didn't even know existed.

"Oo, engines," she lamely pretended she hadn't been looking, despite already getting caught.

Lydia raised her eyebrows at Harper, shaking her head slightly in amusement. The brunette didn't turn around but heard three motorcycles take off, indicating the departure of Scott, Isaac and Braeden.

"Why's it smoking?" Harper questioned her boyfriend, going round to stand next to him from where he was fiddling with something inside the hood.

Stiles looked back up at her, "that's what we're trying to figure out, babe," he sighed in disbelief, "if we knew, we might have a solution."

"Oh," Harper replied.

She stood back and watched as Malia began to stalk around the jeep, almost like a wild animal that had discovered a mysterious type of prey. The werecoyote's eyes suddenly widened and she reached in between the wheel and the car.

"Stiles," she called quickly, "I don't think we hit something. I think something hit us."

She grunted as she managed to yank the object out, lifting what appeared to be a massive claw. It was about the length of Malia's forearm, and razor sharp too. Harper's face scrunched up in a mixture of horror and disbelief, mirroring her boyfriend's almost perfectly.

"Ah, bloody hell."

...

IT HAD BEEN HOURS AND THE SUN WAS DUE TO SET SOON. Stiles remained persistent, a screwdriver in his hand as he worked on his car every second that passed. Harper was on the roof of the jeep next to Malia, an arrangement that had taken some begging to be made.

"Stiles, can we sit on the roof?" Malia had asked, her arms folded across her chest as she tapped her foot impatiently.

Stiles looked at her incredulously, "the roof? There's a perfectly good set of seats inside the jeep. No way."

He went back to his work, ignoring the huff that escaped the werecoyote. Harper was leaning against the car, her eyes shut as if she were about to doze off standing up.

"Harper," the brunette heard Malia whine like a toddler, "Stiles isn't letting me go on the roof."

The Empath opened her eyes, "that's his choice, Malia. Nothing I can do about it."

"Assert your dominance! Tell him to let me!"

Lydia laughed, "Harper? Dominance? Those two words don't even go together."

"They can," Harper defended herself, her voice consequently going a few pitches higher.

"You may have kissed me first, Harps, but you let me take the lead straight away," the strawberry blonde smirked, looking in the corner of her eye as Stiles' jaw clenched slightly, "you're a total bottom."

Harper blushed, hard.

"She's blushing!" Kira giggled.

"Stop teasing her," Stiles cut in, "and please stop talking about kissing Harper, Lydia. You're enjoying this way too much."

Lydia chuckled, "can't handle it, can you, Stilinski?"

Harper groaned, "Lyds, I love you, I really do, but I think I might die of embarrassment if you keep on about kissing me."

Lydia just blew her another kiss.

"Stiles, can I get on the jeep now?" Malia complained again.

"Fine!" Stiles cried, "Malia, get on the jeep. Lydia, stop talking. Please! Can you all just... Stop!"

And so Malia ended up on top of the jeep, Harper beside her a few minutes later. They laid on their backs and looked up at the pale blue sky, listening to Stiles mutter profanities under his breath as he tried to fix the jeep.

"I hope Derek's okay," Kira sighed from where she was sat in the passenger seat, the door open so she could talk to everyone else.

"He'll be fine," Stiles grumbled under his breath.

Harper felt a small ache in her finger and suddenly Stiles released another curse, pulling his hand away and shaking it. Lydia rolled her eyes.

"Maybe we should just walk?" She suggested.

"Hey," he practically glared at her, "I will never abandon this jeep, you understand me? Ever. Ever!"

Malia suddenly sat up, causing Harper to flinch at the sharp movement. The werecoyote's light brown eyes scanned the surroundings, her hair blowing back in the wind.

"Work faster, Stiles," she warned.

"What? Why?" The Stilinski boy asked.

Malia didn't say anything for a while, her stare on the desert never ending. Without looking away, she replied in a tone that sent shivers down Harper's spine:

"There's definitely something out here with us."

...

"HARPER, BABE, COULD YOU PLEASE JUST TRY AND HOLD THE FLASHLIGHT STILL FOR A SECOND, PLEASE? It's really hard to see anything when you keep shaking it like that," Stiles complained.

"Oh, like this?" Harper began to move the torch almost spastically, making it impossible for Stiles to see now.

Stiles shot her a look that made her stop and roll her eyes, "Stiles, it's cold and I'm scared something's gonna come out of those bushes and freaking eat us or something. Can we please just sit in the jeep and wait for Scott?"

"I don't think the jeep will protect you from getting eaten by anything for too long, babe," Stiles shook his head, unscrewing something, "besides, don't worry, we have Malia and Kira."

Kira pulled out her samurai sword and stood next to Malia. The duo stood a little bit away from the jeep, trying to see through the darkness that had settled a while ago.

"Hold this," Stiles handed Lydia something.

"What's this?" The strawberry blonde asked.

"I don't know, I'm hoping it's not important."

"Oh, god."

"Hey, do you think Kate will be mad at us for basically getting her killed?" Harper asked casually after a few seconds, "you think she'll try and kill us?"

"Harper," Lydia whined, pursing her lips together in fear, "don't say stuff like that."

Harper just sighed, her follow up question getting cut short before it could even begin as Malia released what sounded like a mixture of a scream and a growl. The Empath's head snapped up in her direction, seeing the werecoyote's fangs and defensive stance as she took off towards some bushes.

"Malia, wait!" Kira cried, going after her.

"Malia!" Harper yelled anxiously, moving to follow the other supernatural teenagers.

Stiles' large hand quickly wrapped around her arm and pulled her back, his eyes wide as he shook his head at her.

"Hell no, Harper," the Stilinski boy swore, "you are not going out there. Stay here, keep the torch on me so I can fix this jeep and we can get our asses out of here."

Harper shot him an incredulous look, "but Malia-"

"Kira has her handled," Lydia interrupted, taking Stiles' side for the first time that day, "whatever it is... They'll be fine."

Shoulders sagging in defeat, Harper forced a nod and put the torch back on the jeep. Stiles' eyes softened in relief, knowing his girlfriend wasn't about to do something stupid and take off, and he got back to work.

Only a few minutes passed until suddenly the jeep rumbled underneath him, the engine starting up. All three teenagers gasped in excitement, Harper lifting her hands up. Stiles smacked his hands against hers, a grin on his face as he leaned forwards and connected their lips.

Harper sighed in content, wrapping her arms around his neck. Lydia cleared her throat, causing them to part swiftly. Stiles shot her a look of annoyance, which the strawberry blonde returned of course.

"Do you two have to make out any time anything remotely happy happens?" She scoffed.

Harper rolled her eyes as her boyfriend retorted, "jealous?"

Lydia crinkled up her nose, "as if."

Harper almost audibly gasped when she realised Lydia was lying. In fact, when Harper concentrated on the other girl, she could feel the tinge of jealousy radiating from her. The brunette felt betrayed. Lydia had a crush on Stiles?

"Get in the car!" Kira yelled as she ran towards them, Malia slightly behind and holding her stomach.

Thoughts of her best friend liking her boyfriend vanished as quickly as they came, Harper jumping into action and opening the car door. She let Kira and Malia in before herself as they climbed over the seats to get into the back.

"Hurry, Harper," Malia warned anxiously, grabbing her friend's arm and pulling her in, despite the fact that Harper was already halfway through the door and fully capable of doing it herself.

She slammed the door behind her and Stiles took off in the direction Scott, Braeden and Isaac had gone in. Malia leaned back in her seat, hissing in pain. Harper felt a dull ache in her stomach. She peeled her own shirt up, seeing a deep gash.

"Malia, what happened?" She panicked.

"It's okay," Malia replied, "I can feel it healing. I could barely see whatever attacked me, but it had a strong scent though."

"Like what?" Stiles asked.

"Like death."

...

WHEN THE JEEP FINALLY REACHED THE RUINS OF THE CHURCH, SCOTT AND ISAAC WERE JUST LEAVING IT, A FAMILIAR BODY DANGLING FROM THEIR SHOULDERS WHILE BRAEDEN LEAD THE WAY. The rest of the pack rushed over, stunned into silence when they saw the teenager between the two werewolves.

"Is that him?" Malia directed towards Harper and Stiles, "is that Derek?"

Harper cocked her head to the side, "um, kinda."

He looked up, his eyes meeting the rest of the pack. He looked just as confused as everybody else felt.

Derek was a teenager again.


	4. Chapter 4

"WOW."

After dropping Malia and Kira back to their homes, the rest of the McCall pack had rushed Derek straight to the only person they knew could help them- Deaton. However, as the vet looked down at the teenager lying across the metal table in the middle of the room, it didn't look like he was sure what had happened either.

"Wow as in 'wow, I've seen this before and I know exactly what to do' kind of wow?" Stiles asked, "cause that's the kind of wow we're hoping for."

Isaac sent him a look, "really?"

"Shut it," the Stilinski boy threatened.

It seemed that no matter how much time passed, or what the two went through together, Isaac and Stiles would never stop bickering. Stiles' distaste for the boy had sparked back in sophomore year when he and Erica were trying to get Harper and Lydia to eat the kanima-venom-covered-crystals. He had threatened to kill Harper, therefore leaving a very sour taste in the hazel-eyed boy's mouth. Then he went and contributed to his and Harper's breakup a few months ago.

Isaac just simply couldn't stand Stiles' constant sarcasm.

"I think you may be overestimating my abilities," Scott's boss muttered.

Lydia's hand moved out to hold Derek's larger one, "he's cold. Really cold."

Deaton pursed his lips in concern, reaching down to check Derek's skin. Harper studied this new Derek, trying to make comparisons between him now and his former self. One thing was for sure- Derek hadn't had a hair change in the past however many years, which was kind of unsurprising.

"Do you think he'll be like this forever?" The Empath asked.

The older man forced Derek's eyes open, shining a torch at them.

"I don't think a medical diagnosis is even adequate," he sighed, looking up at the pack, "this is well beyond my experience."

"So what do we do with him?" Stiles questioned.

"Until he wakes up? Probably not much," Deaton explained, "it's probably best to leave him with me. He'll be safe here."

"From Kate?" Isaac raised his brows.

"If she's alive and she is what you say she is, she won't be able to walk past that gate," he reassured the group.

"Why would she want to do this to him?" The strawberry blonde spoke up, knowing that Deaton knew more about the Hale family than they did, what with him previously looking out for Talia Hale herself.

Deaton shook his head, "knowing Kate it's probably for a reason that won't be any good for anyone but her."

"And bad for everyone else," scoffed Stiles, rolling his head to try and get rid of some of the stiffness from driving all night.

"You guys should probably go home," the vet advised, "he doesn't look to be in any danger. So maybe the rest of you should get some sleep? It is a school night. You all need to start taking care of your own lives again."

"Amen," muttered Isaac.

Harper smiled slightly, stifling a yawn, "don't have to tell me twice, doc. C'mon, Sti, I wanna sleep."

"You slept the whole ride home," her boyfriend scoffed in disbelief.

Scott looked at his boss in concern, "someone should stay with you."

"I'll stay," Lydia insisted, "my grades are fine. Despite missing a few classes."

"Text us if anything happens," Scott warned her, a stern look in his brown eyes.

Harper nodded in agreement. Although she felt slightly angry at her friend for liking her boyfriend, she knew how petty the anger was- Lydia couldn't control her feelings. Instead, she forced a smile at her best friend.

"Be safe," she murmured, waving as Stiles began to pull her out of the room.

Lydia's gaze lingered on the brunette a few seconds too long, a small sigh escaping her lips when Harper left the room, the door closing behind her and the boys. She shook her head, looking down at the teenage version of Derek as Deaton left the room through another door.

"Oh, Derek," Lydia muttered, "what am I going to do?"

...

STILES' LIPS TRAILED DOWN HARPER'S COLLARBONE, HIS LARGE HANDS GRIPPING HER HIPS AS HE GUIDED THEM OVER TO HIS BED. Harper stumbled back slightly but still kept her eyes closed, her hands going to her boyfriend's hair.

"Please, Stiles," she pleaded, pulling apart from him to fall back onto the bed.

Her hand held his white tee as she tugged him back down on top of her, their lips automatically connecting. She kissed him like he was air and she was suffocating, like a drug that she craved so deeply.

No matter how much Harper kissed or touched Stiles, she could never get enough, and it was frustrating. The Stilinski boy felt entirely the same, his lips tingling and his heart hammering in his chest.

He pushed some of her hair out of her face, their eyes locking. Stiles paused, hovering above her. His facial features softened, his movements a lot more gentle as he cupped her face.

"I'm so in love with you," he almost gasped, his lips back on her in seconds.

"I-" Harper was cut off by a breathy moan escaping her own lips, "Stiles!"

Stiles groaned, loving now his name sounded coming from her. Her voice. Her accent. While she was sometimes embarrassed about how much it stood out, Stiles adored it. He wished he could listen to her voice forever.

"Dress- off," he ordered, leaning back to give her space.

Harper reached down, her fingers wrapping around the end of the yellow sundress she had been forced to wear all weekend. She pulled it up, but just as it was going past her head, the brunette heard Stiles cry out in panic, his body tackling hers down onto the bed and covering it.

"Stiles!" Harper yelled in a mixture of shock and annoyance.

She couldn't see a thing with her dress over her face and Stiles on top of her, so she had no clue what was happening.

"Oh, were you two mating?"

Harper sighed when she realised the cause of what had happened. Pushing Stiles off of her, the Empath pulled her dress back down and raised her eyebrows at Malia who was closing the window behind her. She was long past surprise of the coyote's antisocial habits.

"We were about to," Stiles retorted bitterly, "you know I have a front door, right?"

Malia shrugged innocently, "we didn't have front doors in the wild."

"What are you doing here, Malia?" Harper asked softly.

"You weren't at home. Scott said you'd be here."

Harper sighed, realising she and Stiles wouldn't be finishing what they started any time soon. She climbed up off of the bed.

"I'm going to change into my pyjamas."

Harper went into the en-suite bathroom, taking her 'pyjamas' and slipping them on. Her bed attire consisted of one of Stiles' shirts. It went down to her mid-thigh so she figured it was suitable enough.

The door opened and Stiles entered the bathroom, shooting her a look. Harper raised her dark brows back at him.

"Not tonight, buddy," she winked.

"All I want is to have sex with my own girlfriend," Stiles faked a cry, "and of course every time the cockblocking leads back to Scott."

Harper laughed, kissing his jaw, "another time."

"She's sleeping on my side!" The hazel-eyed boy hissed, "and what are we supposed to do? Share the freaking bed with her?"

Harper opened the door, looking across the room at Malia who had bundled herself up in Stiles' blue duvet. The brunette looked back up at her boyfriend.

"There's plenty of room for us," she shrugged, moving over and sliding into the middle of the bed.

Sighing dramatically, Stiles followed, slipping in beside her. He didn't take his shirt off like normal, feeling extremely conscious of the other girl in his bed- the one that had claws and wasn't too fond of him.

Harper wrapped an arm around him, snuggling her head against his chest. He inhaled the scent of her hair, instantly feeling calmer.

"Night," she whispered.

"Night," he repeated.

The petite girl felt another pair of slender arms go around her and realised she had become the centre of a sandwich. With Malia on one side and Stiles on the other, Harper felt safer than ever.

...

"IT MIGHT SURPRISE YOU TO KNOW THAT SOME OF HISTORY'S GREATEST LEADERS HAVE HAD TO ENDURE SOME PRETTY BIG FAILURES," Mr Yukimura began his explanation from the front of the room, his back to the class as he scribbled writing down on the chalkboard, "one you'll recognise from last night's reading failed in business, had a nervous breakdown, was defeated for both houses of Congress, and lost as Vice President, before he was finally elected as one of the greatest presidents this country has ever seen. Who was he?"

About ten people raised their hands throughout the room, including Stiles, who sent a wink at Scott. Harper watched as Mr Yukimura's eyes settled on a certain werecoyote, who was definitely not paying attention to what he had been saying before. She had a yellow highlighter between her lips and a textbook on her desk as she highlighted rows and rows of writing in red.

"Malia," he called, causing her to look up.

There was an awkward silence as the teacher waited for his student to answer, however Malia didn't look like she was going to respond any time soon. Before Harper could lean across and whisper the name to her friend, they were saved by a phone ringing.

"Scott, phones off," Kira's dad commanded firmly, "Malia, one of our greatest presidents... Gettysburg Address..."

Malia placed the red highlighter in her mouth with the yellow one, shuffling through all of the pages on her desk as she tried to find the right answer. Harper's eyes softened. She looked at Mr Yukimura, silently begging for him to pick someone else. He knew Malia had only had a handful of history classes in her lifetime, yet he still decided to put her on the spot.

Kira tried to help out from behind the pair, sticking her hand up and waving it about so her dad would ask her. Harper's phone suddenly went off, causing the brunette to wince.

"Phones off, everyone," the teacher ordered, "Malia?" He waited a second before sighing, "does anyone else know?"

Every single person in the room aside from Scott, Stiles and Harper raised their hands. Of course, they knew too, they just didn't want the werecoyote to feel bad. However, she did anyway, sinking into her chair and looking around in embarrassment.

Another phone beeped.

"I said, phones off!" The older man commanded more sternly this time, glaring at the thirty teenagers sat in their desks.

"Dad, that was yours," Kira sighed.

Mr Yukimura's face fell and he sighed, turning around to get his phone out of the bag sat on the desk. He read the text message he had received, a look of confusion crossing his face.

"'Scott, call Lydia.'" He read.

...

WHEN SCOTT, STILES AND HARPER ARRIVED AT DEATON'S ANIMAL CLINIC, THEY WERE SURPRISED TO FIND DEREK MISSING AND LYDIA BANDAGING UP THE VET. They quickly explained what had happened to the three teenagers bunking off of school. Apparently, Derek had woken and slashed Deaton's arm after momentarily freaking out.

"I don't think he's just younger in body, I think he's younger in mind, too," Deaton assumed.

Lydia nodded, "he didn't recognise either of us. And he looked like he was scared out of his mind."

"So, if you're a teenage werewolf and you're scared, where do you go?" Stiles assessed the situation, his brows furrowed together.

Scott replied, "a wolf goes back to its den, but Derek lives in the loft."

Harper raised her brows, "but not when he was a teenager. He lived in the Hale house, remember?"

"He wouldn't remember the fire," Deaton added, holding onto his bleeding arm, "it wouldn't have happened yet."

The three teenagers glanced at each other, all silently thinking the same thing. It was their responsibility to now go and find Derek. Harper unfolded her arms from where they had been folded against her chest.

"I can try and find him with the mist," she suggested.

Scott nodded, "and if that doesn't work, I can try and find his scent."

"Perfect," Stiles grabbed his keys out of his back pocket, "let's go."

"Hold on," Lydia called just as the trio went to exit, "say you do find him, what are you going to say to him? That his whole family is dead?"

Scott hesitated, "I guess I'm gonna have to."

"Oh, good luck with that," the strawberry blonde muttered sarcastically.

"Don't worry, we have Harper," Stiles clamped his hand down on his girlfriend's shoulder, "she's very... empathetic. No pun intended."

She shot the Stilinski boy a glance, "look. We won't lie to him, we'll tell him the truth. He will be able to pick up our heartbeats rising, anyway. But we wait until he's not freaking out to do it. We just have to be as sympathetic as possible, okay? Treat him like we really don't know him, and he really doesn't know us."

"Well, if he gets to the Hale House first, you won't have to."

Stiles pursed his lips, "let's get moving then."

"Harper, wait," Lydia called, "can I talk to you? Alone?"

Harper looked up at the two boys, "go without me. Text me when you find him, I'll come to you."

Nodding quickly, Stiles pressed his lips against the side of her head before practically running out of the building, Scott right behind. Harper looked back at Lydia, surprised to see that Deaton had already vanished- probably into the backroom.

Every time Harper looked at Lydia, all she could think about was her liking Stiles and it made her feel uncomfortable. Lydia remained unaware of the fact that Harper knew, acting as usual.

"Last night, when I fell asleep in here with Derek, I had a dream," she began, "and you were in it, and so was..."

"Allison," Harper whispered, finishing it off for her.

Lydia looked at her with wide eyes, "you have the dreams too?"

"Most nights, yeah," the empath swallowed, "it's always similar. Allison will appear somewhere, and I'll never believe it's actually her, and then you come along and you tell me she's already here. And then I always wake up."

"Mine are the same," she agreed nervously, "well, except I'm the one seeing her, and you're the one convincing me she's already here."

Harper ran her hand over her forehead, "what do you think it means?"

"I asked Deaton earlier, he says some supernatural species can connect during times of emotional trauma.. dreams can project what we want, what we need," Lydia began to explain, "I guess empaths and banshees go together."

"Did he say we can do anything about it? Anything to stop the dreams?"

"No. He doesn't know since your kind are so rare there's little to nothing about them."

"Harry might know," Harper suggested, "but I don't know if I should contact him again."

Lydia shook her head, "no, it's better off that he stays away, Harps."

Harper nodded in agreement. "What now?"

"Now we focus on the more important issue at hand here. Derek. You try and find him and I- I will try looking in the bestiary."

...

HARPER FOUND DEREK BEFORE SCOTT AND STILES DID. She was surprised, seeing as she thought they would have gone to where the Hale House had been first, however when she got there, there was no jeep in sight- just a teenage boy sat on some rubble.

Hesitantly, she passed the gates that said 'no trespassing', quietly approaching the young werewolf. He turned when he heard her ankle boots crunch on some crumbled cement, his eyes wide.

"You were there last night," Derek remembered, suspicion and confusion radiating from his body.

Harper nodded, "yeah, my friends and I found you."

She went and sat down next to him, not sure what to say next. It appeared Derek didn't know what to say either, no words coming from his lips as he looked around at what used to be his house. What was left of the Hale House had been knocked down almost a year ago, leaving nothing but rubble in its remains.

"What happened to my house?" He asked the question Harper had dreaded him asking quietly, "and where's my family?"

Harper parted her lips, a saddened look in her eyes. She related to Derek in the sense that she had no family left either. The brunette remembered vividly the day she was told her parents had been killed. She remembered the exact words that had left Sheriff Stilinski's lips, the words that had changed everything.

The school bus pulled up on the corner of Harper Verum's street, the engine rattling to a stop as the doors opened. She and her best friends, Scott McCall and Stiles Stilinski, raced down the aisle and straight out of the vehicle. They were so excited they forgot to thank the bus driver like always.

"Do you think Rose will make us spaghetti for winning?" Stiles asked, swiping his mop of hair out of his hazel eyes, grinning at the girl.

Harper shrugged, a smile crossing her face, "hopefully. She said if we won then she would take us to the cinema this weekend too!"

Scott high fived Harper, "man, I love your grandma."

Laughing, the three twelve-year-olds bounded down the street, still happy from winning the art competition their class had been taking part in. Jackson Whittemore hated art, he was much more into lacrosse, however, when he heard that there was a gift voucher prize, he had set out to win. But with Harper's artistic skills on their group's side, they had managed to beat the Whittemore boy, therefore winning the vouchers. They had been anticipating this win all month. 

"Your dad's here," Harper looked across at Stiles when she saw the Sheriff's car in the driveway, "do you think he's here to see how we did in the competition?"

"Probably," Stiles told his crush and best friend.

Harper pushed open the front door, frowning when she heard the sound of weeping coming from the kitchen. The smiles on Scott and Stiles' faces dropped too. Scott silently shut the door behind them as they moved to the room the sounds were coming from, finding Harper's grandma crying into her hands.

Oliver Verum, Harper's grandfather, stroked her back comfortingly, tears burning in his blue eyes. Meanwhile, Stiles' dad, Noah Stilinski, stood opposite them, also looking regretful. He looked up when he heard the preteens enter the room, his face falling further at the site of the small brunette.

He cleared his throat, gaining Rose's attention. The grandmother gasped and rushed over, bending down to wrap Harper in a tight hug. She sobbed into her shoulder, much to Harper's confusion. This atmosphere was the opposite of what she had been expecting when she got home.

"Harper, I'm sorry," Rose cried, "oh, my baby."

Harper looked worriedly over her grandma's shoulder at Scott and Stiles. Their brows were knitted together in confusion. Sheriff Stilinski moved over to them, placing his hands on their backs.

"Kids, let's give Harper and her grandparents some privacy," he gently pushed them, however they remained stationary.

"We're not leaving Harper," Stiles told his dad sternly, "what happened?"

"Stiles," he warned.

Rose shook her head, sniffling, "please, Noah. You tell her- I don't think I can."

Sheriff Stilinski's eyes softened but he nodded with a sigh, knowing this was part of his job. He just didn't want to be the one to break this girl's heart. Not when she was so young and innocent. Kneeling down, he took his hands in hers.

"Harper, something has happened to your parents, okay?" He began, his voice thick with emotion, "they're not coming home."

Harper didn't get it at first, "why? What happened?"

Noah sighed again, "I'm sorry, they've passed away, Harper."

A heavy silence settled in the room before the twelve-year-old girl's bottom lip began to wobble. Her brown eyes were drowned with tears that spilt down her cheeks, a dry sob escaping her lips. Noah pulled her into a hug, stroking her back.

Harper would never forget the feeling of her best friends joining the hug, and then her grandparents. She would never forget those words. Never.

"Hello?" Derek snapped her out of her thoughts, "you just zoned out on me."

"Sorry," Harper murmured, sending him a sad smile.

She realised then and there that she couldn't say it. She couldn't be the one to tell him what had happened.

"I think we should wait for Scott to get here," Harper suggested firmly, "he's an alpha, okay? He'll know what to do."

"An alpha?" Derek repeated, nodding, "yes, I want to talk with him."

"Okay, let me call him."

Harper reached in to grab her phone out of her pocket, pausing when she heard wheels pull up behind them. She turned around, suspecting that it would be the familiar blue jeep, however it was not. A police cruiser stopped, Deputy Parrish and Deputy Haigan climbing out and heading towards them.

"Bloody hell," Harper hissed under her breath.

"Excuse me, you two," she heard Parrish call, "I'm sorry, but you two can't be here."

Harper turned to him, "sorry, Deputy. We were just leaving," she shot Derek a warning look with her eyes, indicating for him to get up.

He didn't.

"You two dumbasses ever heard of 'no trespassing'?" Deputy Haigan scoffed.

She glared at the older man while Derek responded sourly, "this is my house."

"Oh god," the empath whispered to herself.

"Nobody's been here for years, kid. Now get the hell out of here."

Deputy Parrish frowned at the other man, "Haige, maybe a slightly gentler touch? Harper, is your friend alright?"

"He's fine," she replied quickly, "he's um... he's- he's fine."

Derek still hadn't turned to face the deputies yet. His eyes remained trained on the area he was in, a solemn look on his face as he asked again, "what happened to my house? Where's my family? Where's my mother?"

"Alright, let's go, now," Deputy Haige snapped impatiently, reaching down and tugging Derek up.

Derek growled, twisting the man's hand back in a single move, causing him to yell out in pain. Harper gasped as the other deputy told Derek to take it easy, causing the werewolf to let go. She heard the static of electricity and looked down. Officer Haige had a taser.

"Hey," she yelled, "what the hell!"

She pushed him off of Derek as he pressed the weapon against his stomach, causing the werewolf to drop to the ground like a fly. Deputy Haige turned around and pressed it into Harper's stomach next, sending her down with Derek.

"Stand down! Stand down!" Deputy Parrish was yelling.

...

HARPER NEVER THOUGHT SHE WOULD GET ARRESTED, BUT HERE SHE WAS, SAT ON A BENCH IN THE SHERIFF'S STATION IN HANDCUFFS NEXT TO A TEENAGE VERSION OF DEREK HALE. He wouldn't say a word to her, despite the fact that she had only tried to help him earlier.

Deputy Parrish came over, kneeling down in front of the pair with some keys in his hands.

"The other deputy thinks I'm an idiot for even asking, but I have a feeling if I take these cuffs off, you're gonna be okay?" The blue-eyed man asked Derek softly, "and I think you'll help us figure out what happened to your family so we can get you out of here. Am I right?"

Derek nodded as the police officer reached down, unlocking the handcuff that kept him to the bench.

"Me next," Harper spoke eagerly.

Parrish chuckled and undid her handcuffs. She sighed in relief.

"Thanks," she muttered, "you know, I could totally get that guy fired. He arrested and taser-ed me for nothing."

"Yeah, I think that other deputy's the idiot," Derek huffed.

"Can't argue with that," Parrish grinned.

"Parrish, get over here," Haige called.

Harper turned to face Derek as Parrish walked away, leaving the two alone at the front of the room. Officers walked around, most remaining at their desks and typing on their computers. Sheriff Stilinski was nowhere to be seen, but she was sure when he saw her he would let her go. They had even taken her phone so she couldn't call Scott or Stiles.

"I told you Scott would answer your questions," Harper sighed, "you shouldn't have resisted that guy, then we wouldn't be here."

Derek glared at her slightly, "he grabbed me."

"So young Derek has anger issues," she muttered to herself, "look, all I'm saying is, is you're lucky he didn't freaking shoot us."

"I'd heal."

"I wouldn't! And being shot hurts like a bitch."

"You say that like you would know."

"I would," Harper declared, "I got shot in the shoulder last year. Right in this very room."

Derek raised his brows at her, "okay, maybe you're not as lame as I thought."

Harper scoffed, "thanks?"

The sound of a body practically running into the door caused Harper to look up. She wasn't surprised to see her two best friends stood there, puffing as if they had run a marathon to get there. Only then did Harper notice Sheriff Stilinski in the room, and the disappointed look on his face as he huffed.

"I'll handle this."

...

"I WANT YOU TO BE HONEST WITH ME. Absolutely and completely honest," Sheriff Stilinski spoke as if he was in pain, struggling to comprehend what was going on as he spoke privately with Scott, Stiles and Harper in his office, "have you been time travelling?"

"Hang on, what?" Stiles' face scrunched up.

"Because if time travelling is real, you know what, I'm done, I'm out. You're gonna be driving me to Eichen House," Noah waved his hands about frantically.

Harper turned her nose up, "wouldn't recommend it."

"We found him like that," Scott tried to rationalise.

"Where? Swimming in the Fountain of Youth?"

"No," his son began to explain, "we found him buried in a tomb of wolfsbane in an Aztec temple in Mexico underneath a church in the middle of a town that was destroyed by an earthquake."

Scott and Harper simultaneously closed their eyes, realising Stiles had blown their cover. She remembered when he did the same back when they tried to get Derek arrested- telling his dad they found Scott's inhaler in the woods when Scott wasn't supposed to be there.

"You told me you were camping!" Noah hissed.

"Yeah, we were," Stiles replied simply, "it was in Mexico."

"Derek's been aged backwards and he can't remember anything," Harper explained, "that's why he was at the Hale House."

"And you were with him?" Stilinski asked.

"Yeah, I found him," the brunette responded, "and then Deputy Haige gave us the taser and arrested us- which is really corrupt by the way, seeing as I was actually cooperating."

"He did what?" Stiles frowned, his protective boyfriend instincts kicking in as he touched her arm, "are you okay?"

"I'm fine," Harper shook her head at him, "but Sheriff, we need to talk to Derek. Or at least Scott does. He wants to talk to an alpha."

Everybody turned to look at Scott who nodded and headed towards the door. He stood in front of Derek, sending the teenager a weak smile.

"I'm Scott," he greeted.

"The alpha," Derek recalled, "are you gonna tell me what happened to my house? To my family?"

"There was an accident. You lost your memory, but we can help you get it back," Scott offered sincerely.

"How much memory?"

"A lot. But you can trust us."

"Who exactly are you three?"

"The ones keeping you out of jail," Stiles spoke up, looking over from where he had been distracted by some envelopes on his father's desk.

"Let us help you," Harper pleaded.

"No," Derek replied firmly.

"Okay, dude, you almost tore apart two cops back there and got my girlfriend freaking tased. You need to start listening to us, okay?" The Stilinski boy ordered, "and that starts with no fangs, no claws, no wolfman. You got that?"

"I'm fine as long as it's not on a full moon."

Scott was amused, "you still have trouble with the full moon?"

"I said I'm fine. You want me to trust you? Where's my family?"

The three all looked at each other, silently begging for one of them to speak up. Scott's pleading brown eyes bored into Harper's, but she pursed her lips and shook her head firmly. She would not be the one to deliver the bad news.

"There was a fire," the alpha started before taking a long pause, "they're not here anymore. They're fine. They just had to move out of Beacon Hills."

Harper felt slightly disgusted that her best friend was lying to Derek, giving him false hope. The relieved sigh that escaped the teenage boy's lips made it ten times worse.

"We're gonna take you to them. As soon as we get your memories back."

Derek exhaled shakily, "okay."

...

"HARPER, PLEASE DON'T IGNORE ME."

Harper looked up at Scott, glaring at him with her arms crossed against her chest. He knew she wouldn't approve as soon as he said what he did, but he didn't know what else to say.

"We agreed on telling the truth," she spat, "you just lied your arse off to him, Scott. And the look in his eyes when he thought his family was okay- did that not make you feel sick to your stomach?"

Scott swallowed, feeling deeply ashamed of himself. Stiles looked between his two best friends, wincing a little.

"Harps, to be fair, Scott did just save him from a lot of unnecessary pain. When Derek does get his memories back, he'll remember his family anyway. There was no point in telling him," Stiles justified.

Harper sent him an unimpressed look too.

"What if Derek never gets back to normal? You gonna keep lying to him?" She glared, "keep telling him his mum and his sisters and brothers are perfectly fine?"

Scott grabbed her hand, "Harper, I'm sorry."

Harper's eyes dropped to their hands in her lap, softening. She hated that he had lied, but she could see where she was coming from. Although god did her stubborn side what to still be mad at him for it.

"If Derek's not back or normal in the next couple of days, you're telling him, okay?" She instructed pleadingly, "I can't handle knowing we just lied to him."

Scott nodded quickly, "I'll tell him."

She sent him a nod, telling him silently that she forgave him. He squeezed her hand and let go.

"All right, you two. Take him to my house and don't let him out of your sights," ordered Scott.

"And where are you going?" Stiles raised his brows.

"I'm gonna go talk to the guy that we should have talked to before," Scott left the room.

"Uh, yeah, I hate that guy," Stiles called after him, but Scott was already gone to see Peter.

To sort this mess out for once and for all.


	5. Chapter 5

HARPER TOOK HER KEYS OUT OF THE BACK POCKET OF HER MOM JEANS, THUMBLING WITH THEM FOR A SECOND BEFORE SLIDING THE CORRECT ONE INTO THE LOCK. Stiles rubbed his neck from behind her, becoming impatient with the teenager that they had been hauled with.

They moved into the house as Stiles set down the rules for Derek.

"We're just gonna wait here for Scott. We're gonna sit quietly, and we're not gonna call or talk to anyone," he instructed firmly.

"Do I talk to you two?" Derek asked.

"No."

"Good."

"Fine!"

"Who's going to talk to him?" Derek gestured towards Raphael McCall, a now somewhat permanent member of the household.

"Ah!" Stiles jumped before glaring at Scott's dad, "are you getting taller?"

Harper sighed, remembering that today was the day she, Scott and Isaac were going to sit down and have dinner with him. Raphael was using his time in Beacon Hills to get closer to his son, but he seemed to not mind that Harper and Isaac had also been taken under Melissa's wing. He wasn't so bad when he wasn't working.

"Harper," he nodded at the teenage girl before frowning towards the two boys she was with, "what are you two doing here?"

"Waiting for Scott," Derek replied.

He nodded, "yeah, so am I. We're supposed to be having dinner. I bought extra, you guys hungry?"

"Yeah," Derek and Harper replied at the same time as Stiles said, "no, we're not hungry."

"No, I'm starving," the other boy protested.

"None of us are hungry. Thanks, though," Stiles ignored Derek.

"Okay, well if you're not hungry, Stiles, your friend can still eat with Harper, Isaac and I," the tall man insisted, holding up the bag of food he was carrying, "what's your name?"

"Miguel," Harper replied quickly before Derek could answer himself.

She heard Stiles let out what resembled a small laugh, however he quickly covered it up with a cough. Clearly, he remembered the nickname he had given Derek almost two years ago now too.

The Stilinski boy nodded, "yeah, this is my cousin Miguel. From Mexico, so..." He clapped him on the back for unneeded emphasis.

Raphael hummed in acknowledgement before he began to speak in fluent Spanish. Stiles looked down at Harper while she looked up at her boyfriend, both exchanging looks of alarm. Harper felt her palms get a little clammy, realising they were about to get caught out. Scott's dad was an FBI agent, for god's sake. What did they expect?

She wondered how Stiles or Scott got away with anything growing up, what with both their dads basically solving crimes for a living. At least with her father always being busy in his office and her mother not being the brightest of women, she stood a chance of getting away with stuff.

Harper visibly jumped as Derek replied back, the Spanish language rolling off of his tongue as if it was his first. Derek could speak Spanish?

"Fantastic," Raphael sent a smile in his direction, "egg roll?"

"Hell yeah!"

Stiles began to laugh nervously as Derek walked over to Scott's dad, starting to discuss what Chinese food they wanted. He wiped his hand against his forehead, feeling his skin start to cool from suddenly being let off of the hook.

"Thank god Derek knows Spanish," Harper muttered so only he could hear.

"Yeah, fantastic," Stiles replied sarcastically, just as Isaac came bounding down the stairs.

"Oh, Chinese food," he grinned.

...

"SO, MIGUEL, WHAT DID YOU SAY YOUR LAST NAME WAS AGAIN?" Raphael asked as they all sat around the table, plates of Chinese food in front of them.

Isaac looked up from where he had a mouthful of noodles in his mouth, looking between everybody on the table strangely. Harper shot him a warning glare, telling him not to speak up.

"Oh, it's Juarez... Cinqua... Tiago," Stiles replied casually.

Derek raised his brows, amused.

"That's a mouthful," Isaac teased, leaning back in his seat with a small smirk on his face, "how do you spell that?"

Stiles gave Isaac a look of pure hatred while Derek turned to him, pulling a frown and shrugging.

"Phonetically," Harper answered when she realised Stiles had no clue what to say.

"So, how was school today?" Raphael asked them all, however only really looking between Harper and Isaac.

Isaac sent a fake smile at the new man of the house, "it was fine."

"Same old, same old," Harper replied, "maths, history, English..."

That was another one of the lies that she had told Raphael today, seeing as she, Stiles and Scott ditched straight after the first period to go and find Derek. He didn't need to know that, though.

"Good," he murmured, shovelling a forkful of rice into his mouth.

Harper knew what Raphael McCall was doing- trying to be a better person for his son. She had overheard them arguing a few weeks ago about Harper and Isaac's living arrangements until Scott reminded him angrily that the two didn't have any fathers, and if he wanted to stick around, he had to treat them like he did Scott. The gesture was sweet enough, but it made Harper feel a little awkward.

Derek's eyes flickered over to Raphael's badge sprawled across the table, his brows raising as he gained interest.

"Mr McCall," he spoke up, "you're an FBI agent?"

"He's low level," Stiles responded before the man in question even had a chance, "very low level. He doesn't even have a voice."

Derek ignored the Stilinski boy, "so you investigate murders?"

"Sometimes," Scott's dad nodded, "when it's a federal crime."

"What about fires?"

"Oh my god!" Stiles cried, "I wonder where Scott is. Shouldn't Scott be here by now? We should call Scott."

Stiles' efforts to change the subject went ignored by everyone. Even Isaac had stopped with the amused smirks and digging at Harper and Stiles, genuinely not wanting Derek to find out about his family. He cared about Derek a lot- he was his alpha, the man that had given him a new reason to live and changed his life for the better.

Seeing him as a clueless teenage boy had at first been amusing to Isaac, but now he just felt kind of saddened. He wished Derek remembered him.

"What kind of fires you talking about?" Agent McCall asked.

"Do you know anything about the Hale family?"

...

AS SOON AS THE DOOR TO HARPER'S ROOM CLOSED, STILES WAS SHOVED UP AGAINST IT BY A VERY ANGRY DEREK HALE. Harper's hand went over her mouth, trying to stop herself from saying anything that would set the teenager off further.

"Okay, I didn't lie I just omitted certain truths," Stiles attempted to calm him down, "vital truths now that I think about it."

Derek released Stiles and backed up, "I don't want to talk to you. I want to talk to the alpha. I'll talk to Scott."

Isaac folded his arms across his chest, "do you see Scott anywhere around here?"

Harper sighed, "listen, Derek. You need to calm down before Mr McCall comes up here-"

"Don't tell me to calm down," he yelled at her, causing Stiles to frown.

"Don't talk to her like that."

"Or what?" Derek flashed his blue eyes.

"Stop it!" Harper yelled, shoving Derek's shoulder so he stopped trying to get in Stiles' face, "can you please just try and listen for a second? We're trying to help you!"

"You lied to me!" Seethed Derek, "why should I let you help me?"

"Cause we're the only ones that know how," Isaac rolled his eyes before muttering to himself, "god, normal Derek would have punched you hours ago."

Harper exhaled loudly, "everyone calm down. All this pent-up anger and frustration is clogging my senses."

Stiles opened the door, "my phone is downstairs, I'm gonna go call Scott," he pointed at Derek, "you stay right there, okay? Do not move."

He ran down the hall, his footsteps echoing. Isaac sighed, slumping down into Harper's chair while Derek sat on her bed, staring at the floor. The brunette girl ran her hands down her face, feeling the room slowly but surely start to settle. It was a relief, to say the least.

Suddenly, the bathroom door started to creak open behind her. She looked over her shoulder at the same time Isaac stood up, eyes wide.

"Kate?" Horrified gasps left both teenager's lips.

Meanwhile, Derek sat on Harper's bed, staring at the woman as if it was a relief to see her. That was probably the most confusing part, just above the fact that Allison's not-so-dead aunt had been hiding out in Harper and Scott's joined bathroom for god knows how long.

Harper took a step back, ready to run, however, the blonde haired woman showed no mercy, lifting her arm and striking Harper across the face. The petite girl fell to the ground quicker than you could say 'bloody hell', smacking her hip on the floor harshly. She looked back up at her, her lips still parted in shock.

Isaac growled furiously, rushing forwards with his teeth bared, only for Kate to stick her hand out, extended claws pressed against his neck, daring for him to lay a finger on her. The werewolf swallowed, looking down at her hand that could be seconds away from ending his life.

"Kate?" Derek repeated, standing up.

"Hello, handsome," she grinned, letting go of Isaac and walking towards him, "you might want to come with me if you want some actual answers."

Derek looked down towards Harper who was climbing up off of the ground and Isaac who looked like he was seconds from exploding. He looked back a the woman and nodded.

"Derek, no," Harper shook her head quickly, "you can't trust her! Who do you think lit-"

"Don't listen to them, Derek!" Kate ordered, a sickly sweet smile on her face.

She reminded Harper scarily of Derek's last psycho ex-girlfriend, Jennifer Blake.

"I don't trust you guys," Derek spat as he began to follow Kate towards the window, "her, I trust."

"You're making a mistake," Isaac glared.

Derek placed himself over the edge of the window, "you don't know me."

Then, he jumped, disappearing alongside the woman who had been proclaimed dead over a year ago. Stiles entered the room, slipping his phone into his pocket and looking up, pausing when he saw no Derek.

"Um, where did Derek go?" He asked nervously.

"Kate," Harper looked back at her boyfriend anxiously, "she came in here and she convinced him to go with her."

"Did she do that too?" He pointed at the red mark on Harper's cheekbone that still felt as if it were on fire.

Isaac nodded, "she had claws too, but she's not a werewolf. I don't know what she is."

Stiles pulled his phone back out, hitting one of the three contacts he had saved in his favourites, "Scott? I take back what I said. Maybe we do need to start worrying about Kate..."


	6. Chapter 6

"DO YOU BELIEVE IN SOULMATES?"

Harper glanced up from her homework, finding her boyfriend already staring at her. His brows were furrowed very slightly, his hazel eyes scanning her face for the slightest reaction or answer. A small giggle escaped her lips and she cocked her head to the side, smiling at Stiles in amusement. Stiles loved whenever she would do that.

Tapping her pen against her lips, she replied, "you listen to one of my playlists and suddenly you've gotten deep."

Stiles chuckled back, "must have been that Jaymes Young song you put in there."

Harper laughed, shaking her head as she flipped the page of the book she was annotating for her English class. Stiles was meant to be doing the same, however, he was about eight pages behind simply from getting distracted by his own girlfriend's beauty. And as he sat there and stared at her- he realised she must be it. Harper must be the real thing for him.

"No, but seriously," he shuffled from where he had been laying on his stomach so he was propped up on his side, his hand supporting his head so he could look at her clearer, "do you believe in soulmates?"

Pursing her lips, Harper thought for a second and shut her book, "I don't know."

Stiles' face fell a little, "you don't know if you believe in soulmates?"

"I don't know!" Harper repeated, giggling as she shoved him for the serious look on his face, "why are you asking me this?"

"Well... I was just thinking, right?" He began, "don't you believe that there's someone out there for everyone? That for every person that there is on this world, someone out there was made for them. And they match each other so perfectly and the universe pushes them together for a reason?"

A heavy silence filled the room as Harper thought about what he had said for a few seconds. She hummed along.

"I think it's a nice idea," she agreed, "very romantic."

"But true?"

"I don't know," she repeated for the third time that night, "I hope it's true, anyway. I believe maybe my grandparents were soulmates, but definitely not my parents," she paused, "do you think Scott and Allison were soulmates?"

Stiles' chest ached at the thought, thinking about his best friend and the girl that his best friend had loved so deeply. The girl who had saved their asses multiple times but ended up getting killed anyway.

"I think so," he murmured, "but that's not to say Scott won't ever find love again."

Harper nodded, "I think he really likes Kira."

"Yeah," Stiles agreed before realising he had become distracted by what he really wanted to ask her, "and... what do you think about us?"

Harper's eyes softened, a tiny smile covering her face, "if soulmates aren't real then you and I are an anomaly, Sti."

Stiles grinned back, "you mean it?"

"Of course, stupid," her hand reached out and she stroked her fingers against his jaw, admiring his beauty, "I love you so much. I don't actually know how I got so lucky with you."

"I ask myself how I ended up with a girl so perfect every day too," Stiles replied sincerely, his hand placing itself over the one she had on his face, "and I genuinely believe you are my soulmate, Harper Verum."

Without saying another word, Harper moved forwards and pressed her lips against his. Stiles let go of her hand, putting it in her hair. She didn't care if he messed up the beach waves she had spent half an hour this morning creating, instead, she swiped their homework off of the bed and moved on top of him, starting something that, surprisingly, didn't get stopped by Scott McCall.

...

SOMETIME LATER, HARPER ROLLED OFF OF HER BOYFRIEND, LANDING TUCKED IN HIS ARM, HER HEAD ON HIS SHOULDER. Both teenagers were panting, a thin layer of sweat covering their body. Stiles let out a breathy chuckle as he pulled Harper closer to him, stroking up and down her bare arm absentmindedly.

"That was new," he looked down at her with a beaming smile.

Harper winked back, "and Lydia said I didn't go with dominance."

Stiles hummed a laugh, turning back over so he was above her. Harper peered up at him through her thick lashes, puckering her lips. The Stilinski boy granted her wish, dipping his head down and connecting them.

When they'd finished their slow make out session, Stiles flopped back down on the bed again. Harper put her head on his bare chest, listening to his heartbeat. His slender fingers twiddled with her hair, gently parting any knots they came across.

"You'd never leave me, right?" He asked.

"Never," Harper agreed instantly, "I already said- you're my soulmate, Sti."

"I know," he sighed, "it's just, like, what if someone in close to us, in the pack, for example, started liking you? Would you leave me if they asked you to?"

Harper raised her brows, "no, I wouldn't. Stiles, I'm in love with you. As in, nobody else even compares."

She felt him relax slightly from underneath her, a small sigh escaping his lips. Harper knew Stiles was an insecure person, however she didn't know he had doubts about her leaving him. They sat comfortably in silence for about a minute, just enjoying each other's presence.

"Let's go on a date," Harper proposed, "my treat."

"You want to take me on a date? Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"No," the brunette's face scrunched up, "I wanna take my boyfriend on a date and show him how much I bloody adore him."

"Huh," Stiles found himself grinning, "your boyfriend would be stupid to say no."

"He definitely would be. What do you think he's gonna say?"

"I think he's gonna say yes."

...

"MALIA!"

Malia whirled around at the sound of her own name, panicked by how loud it was. She saw Harper doing a light jog towards her from down the hallway and frowned in concern. The werecoyote held the shorter girl's arm as she got closer.

"What's wrong?" She demanded.

It was time for a frown to take place on Harper's face. She tilted her head in confusion, shaking it with a small chuckle.

"Nothing's wrong, why?"

"You yelled my name," Malia told Harper as if she hadn't been there when it happened.

"Yeah, but not in a 'Malia help me' kinda way," Harper reassured her, "I was just excited to see you."

"Me?"

"Yeah, you," the Empath began to grin wickedly, "I heard from a certain someone that a certain someone slept in a certain someone's bed last night."

Malia stuck her bottom lip out very slightly and shook her head as if trying to recall it. She let go of Harper's arm and turned back to her locker, shoving a book in.

"I don't know who any of those people are," she lied.

Harper cooed, "Aww, does Malia have her first crush?"

The werecoyote turned around in a flash, her blue eyes glowing at Harper as she growled under her breath. Harper looked at her, a little freaked out, but a hand clamped down on Malia's shoulder, making her eyes fade back to their natural brown.

"Eyes away, Malia," Lydia warned.

"I do not like him," Malia hissed.

"Yeah, well I think he likes you," Harper whispered, pointing discretely down the other side of the hall where Isaac was pulling his lacrosse kit out of his locker.

Lydia and Harper noticed the way Malia's eyes softened for a second, before turning hard again. She looked away from him and scoffed, slamming her locker shut, no doubt catching the attention of the supernaturally advanced werewolf.

"Too bad his feelings aren't returned," the tallest girl insisted proudly.

"I think you're forgetting I'm an Empath, Malia," Harper teased, "I know how you feel. I can tell you like him."

Lydia's eyebrows raised, "you can tell when people like other people?"

Harper caught onto the nervousness in her tone, immediately thinking back to how she had picked up the jealousy she had about her and Stiles. Next time she had Stiles and Lydia with her, she planned on finding out if Lydia really liked her boyfriend or if she had been reading the signals wrong.

"I can sense emotions towards people if I think about it," Harper nodded, "like, not just by standing here, but if I concentrated on 'how does Malia feel about Isaac', then sure."

"Nice," the strawberry blonde squeaked.

Harper shot her a confused look, about to question it when the bell for the second period began to ring.

"History," she huffed, turning and walking away down the hall, knowing her friends had maths.

"She's gonna find out," Malia told Lydia, still watching as Harper walked into the crowds of other teenagers.

Lydia peeled her eyes away from the brunette to look at her, feigning confusion, "what are you talking about?"

"Your little thing for Harper," Malia rolled her eyes, "everyone's picked up on it, well, apart from her. I think she thinks you like Stiles."

Pursing her lips, the banshee shook her head determinedly, "I have no clue what you are talking about.."

Lydia grabbed onto the strap of her bag tighter and went down the hall, keeping her chin high and her green eyes focused on the people walking around her. She had no idea that the others had found out, she was just glad that Harper was still in the dark about it. The Empath happens to be the world's most oblivious girl. Oh, the irony.

...

"AN AXE MURDERER?"

"A family-murdering-axe-murderer," Stiles confirmed his story as he followed Scott, Kira and Harper down the hall, waiting for their reactions to the gruesome story he had told that had taken place in, of course, none other than Beacon Hills itself.

"I already heard about it," Scott replied as if it were a casual thing.

Harper cocked her head at him, "what? How?"

"Yeah, my mum called me. She knew we'd see it on the news," the alpha replied as he finally reached his locker, causing the group to come to a stop.

"Perfect. Let's go," Stiles insisted, jabbing his thumb back towards the exit of the school.

"We have econ in five minutes."

"Right. Did you forget the part about the family-murdering-axe-murderer?" The Stilinski boy retorted.

"Did you forget that your dad's the sheriff?" Scott argued back, "they want us to stay out of it."

Harper felt the frustration roll off of Stiles, his hands starting to fly about as his hazel eyes flicked between his two best friends, an exasperated expression drawn across his face.

"Are you guys kidding me? There's a family-murdering-axe-murderer and we're not gonna do anything about it?"

Kira winced, "maybe we should just let the adults handle it."

Stiles looked from Kira to Scott, rolling his eyes when he saw the expression on his best friend's face. He could tell right off the bat that Scott agreed. He looked to his own girlfriend, hoping that she was up for a little bit of mystery solving instead of econ with Coach.

He noticed she refused to make eye contact with him, her eyes cast on the denim jacket Scott was wearing rather than her boyfriend. Smirking slightly, Stiles leaned against the lockers.

"Harper, look at me," he cooed as if she were an infant, "you can't ignore me forever. Look into my eyes, go on."

Harper made a point of not obeying, "Stiles, we ditched all day yesterday. We can't ditch again today."

"Please, baby," he tried, seeing the way her eyes softened, but also how she didn't budge.

Scott scoffed, shaking his head, "please don't call her that in front of me again. It makes me feel totally uncomfortable."

"It's cute," Kira whacked his arm playfully.

"No," the alpha complained, "it's like hearing your brother call your sister baby."

"Want me to call you baby instead?" Stiles teased.

"No!" Scott insisted, just as the bell rang, "econ now. Leave it to the adults, Stiles."

He and Kira began to move down the hall, leaving the couple behind. Harper sighed as she finally looked up at him, their eyes meeting. He gave her a pointed look.

"Come on," she murmured, grabbing his hand and reaching up on her toes to kiss his cheek, "econ now, then I will come and watch you at tryouts and then we can do whatever you want to do. After. School."

Stiles groaned, "fine... you're lucky you're pretty."

Harper laughed at him, tugging him down the hall and to econ.

...

"HAVE YOU HEARD ABOUT LIAM DUNBAR?"

Shaking her head, Harper closed her locker door and turned to face Kira, who was stood waiting for her next to a certain werecoyote. The three girls had planned on going to watch Scott, Stiles and Isaac try out for the lacrosse team, just like Harper did every year.

"Never heard of him," she admitted, "what is he, new?"

Kira nodded as the trio started to walk down the hall, "yeah, but he's not in our grade, he's a freshman."

"So we care about him why?" Malia droned.

"Well, apparently he's some sort of lacrosse god. Stiles thought he was a werewolf, he's that good," the Japenese girl explained.

Harper raised her brows, wondering why she hadn't heard of Stiles' new theory from either of her best friends. She had to admit, she was quite intrigued to see how well this new kid performed, if he was so good Stiles suspected her had a supernatural hand in it.

The girls made it to the field, Harper standing on her toes as they walked across the grass to see what was going on further away. It appeared that the boys were all running laps around the field, although she had yet to spot the main reason she had come here.

They took their seats in the middle of the bleachers. Not many other kids were around, just a few friends of the teenage boys obviously trying out. Harper patted her hand against her knee as she watched Coach monitor their times.

"Terrible. Horrifying. Pathetic," he muttered at a herd of boys, looking down at the stopwatch clutched in his hand, "unbelievably pathetic. Is that everyone?"

Harper's eyes softened as she finally spotted the reason she had come- and he was late. Laboured breaths escaped his lips as he leaned over, gasping for as much air as he could before collapsing onto the grass dramatically.

"Yep, that's everyone," Coach sighed as Scott quickly came over, placing his hands under Stiles' arms and pulling him back up.

As Stiles continued to try and steady his breathing, they glared in the direction of the rest of the boys, causing Harper to shift her gaze. She worked out the reason immediately.

Amongst about a dozen boys laying around either trying to catch their breaths or doing some light stretching, a boy with honey brown hair clad in Nike gear was doing press-ups on the grass, barely influenced by the extreme exercise they had been forced to endure.

Harper had worked out who this Liam Dunbar kid was.

The boys and Coach Finstock got back to work, Harper looking back at the two girls next to her. Malia was doing some homework in a notepad while Kira watched intently, her chin resting on a lacrosse stick that she had for some reason. Harper didn't question it.

She looked at them, memories of her, Lydia and Allison sitting there while they watched Scott and Stiles play lacrosse. She wished everything was like how it was back then, but then she felt bad for thinking so. Sure, she loved Kira and Malia, but nothing would ever be like the friendship she, Allison and Lydia had had. What they could have still had.

The brunette snapped out of it, feeling anxiety fill her body. However, it wasn't coming from her. Kira's brown eyes were filled with the emotion and she radiated it.

"Are you okay?" Harper asked gently, "I can feel your anxiety."

Malia nodded, looking up from her notepad, "yeah, and it's distracting. What's going on?"

Kira looked at Harper, "you're close with Scott."

Nodding slowly, the brunette replied, "yeah... We've been best friends since I was, like, nine or something. Plus I have to live with him. Why?"

"Well, Scott and I sort of had this thing happen," Kira replied nervously, "but it wasn't much of a thing. And now I'm starting to think it never was anything at all."

"What do you want it to be?" The werecoyote asked.

"More," she sighed, looking over at him.

Harper looked towards her own boyfriend, who now stood at the front of the line. He was trying to get a ball into his net, the boys around him laughing mockingly. She bit her lip as eventually the Stilinski boy became frustrated and grabbed a ball, forcing it into his net himself.

She sucked in a breath as Stiles prepared himself, licking his lips. He took a step back, holding the stick over his shoulders before throwing it as hard as he could- straight into the goalie's net. Everyone around him laughed as Harper's shoulders sagged in disappointment, honestly feeling bad for him.

Stiles huffed before heading to the back of the line to stand with Scott and Isaac. Liam was up next, much to Harper's interest. She wanted to see if he was as good as Kira had claimed. He picked the ball up in his net, cradling it for only a second before throwing it.

It soared through the air, going straight past the goalie and into the goal. Coach yelled out in joy, even blowing his whistle for the new freshman. Scott was up next, causing Harper to smile a little as she nudged Kira.

"Scott's really good, watch this," the brunette promised.

Scott threw the ball- and it hit the post. Laughter followed the sound of it smacking off the metal, Harper's smile vanishing as she winced.

"Nice, McCall," Harry, the boy Harper had gone on the triple date with, retorted.

"Hey, Harry," Stiles glared, sending him a mocking smile, "shut up!"

Lacrosse practice went on with Liam scoring goal after goal while Stiles and Scott did, to say the least, not so well. No matter how eagerly the alpha approached every throw, the ball never seemed to go anywhere near the desired net. Isaac was doing well, sending cocky smirks at the freshman boy every time he went to the back of the line.

"Isn't the captain supposed to be one of the best players on the team?" Kira asked awkwardly, "or good?"

Harper felt herself become defensive over her boys, almost spitting a sarcastic remark at the confused girl sat right to her, however, she closed her eyes and sighed. Kira was right, after all, they weren't exactly doing their best today.

"Normally they are," she promised, "today's just... not their day."

Malia raised her brows, "the only ones that are actually good out there are Isaac and that Liam kid."

The brunette smiled a little, knowing the werecoyote hadn't even been watching Scott or Stiles, only really Isaac. The relationship between Malia and Isaac was to put one way- complicated. It seemed that they both wanted each other, however, Malia was still trying to figure herself out and Isaac still missed Allison deep down. Harper knew they hid their feelings towards each other through spiteful comments and sarcastic remarks, but everybody could see through it.

Coach blew a whistle, causing the Empath to focus her attention back on the field. All of the boys began to surround the teacher as he yelled, "hustle!"

"McCall and Stilinski, grab the long sticks," he ordered, "you're covering goal for two-on-ones. Let's go! Line it up!"

Harper chewed down on her bottom lip, hoping for the best as Stiles and Scott did as they were told, moving to stand a few feet in front of the goal. The rest of the boys trying out all lined up and one that Harper couldn't recognise under his helmet dashed forwards.

Both Stiles and Scott moved forwards, Scott managing to knock the lacrosse stick out of the guy's hands and onto the grass. Coach blew a whistle as Harper grinned, wriggling about in her seat, unable to control her excitement.

The next boy that ran up stood no chance either. Stiles and Scott both winked at each other before running up to the guy, catching him halfway and knocking him to the ground.

"Told you," Harper nudged Kira who couldn't stop smiling either.

They did it to the next boy, and the one after that, and the one after that.

"That's how you do it!" Coach Finstock yelled, "that's how it's done!"

Out of pure excitement, Scott and Stiles jumped up and chest bumped each other in the air, causing the Stilinski boy to fall to the ground, forgetting all about his friend's supernatural strength. He got up as quick as he fell, however, just in time to see who was next in line.

Liam.

He appeared totally confident, adjusting his grip on his lacrosse stick, meanwhile, Scott and Stiles looked like they were the nervous ones. It should have been the opposite way.

Dead silence filled the area until Coach blew the whistle and Liam took off. Anticipation clogged the bleachers, every eye watching to see who would come off better- the boy that hadn't missed a single goal or the boys who had been taking everyone out.

Stiles dove through the air, missing Liam who had dodged out of the way last second. Then he went straight past Scott too, lifting his lacrosse stick and flinging the ball straight into the goal. Everybody erupted into cheers, well, everybody apart from Harper, Kira and Malia.

"That was luck!" Malia stood up on her seat, waving her hands about.

"Malia!" Harper hissed, her face turning a little red as she pleaded quietly for the girl to get down.

"Do-over!" She cupped her hands over her mouth.

"Sweetheart, there are no do-overs," Coach laughed slightly, "this is practice."

"Ten bucks on Scott and Stiles."

"I'll take that action," Coach agreed with a grin, "hey, get back in there, Liam!"

Harper watched anxiously as Liam ran up for the second time. Just like the first, he dodged Stiles, however as he approached the McCall boy, he was flipped through the air, landing on the grass with a harsh thump- followed by a sickening crack that Harper could hear all the way from the bleachers.

Her leg started to burn slightly, causing her to quickly hold it out of instinct. The pain went away after a few seconds, although Liam showed no signs of healing as he withered about on the grass, groaning loudly and crying out.

"Don't move!" Coach yelled as the ran towards them, "don't touch him!"

The conversation couldn't be heard from the stands, however, a few seconds later Liam was being walked off of the field, his arms flung over Scott and Stiles' shoulders.

Harper climbed up, "I'm going with them."

Malia and Kira nodded, watching as the empath rushed off.


	7. Chapter 7

THE CAR RIDE TO THE HOSPITAL HAD BEEN A LITTLE AWKWARD, TO SAY THE LEAST. Harper and Isaac had been crammed into the back of the jeep beside Liam, while Scott and Stiles sat in the front as always. No music played as the car radio had been wrecked for a while now, leaving the five teenagers in dead silence. Well, dead silence apart from the whimpers that Liam made every now and then, a reminder of what Scott had done to him.

Harper didn't know if she trusted Liam yet or not. He seemed alright, but Stiles was right- this kid did seem too good to be true, just like how Harper had thought with Harry when she started receiving letters from him. If only she had gone with her gut instinct, then she wouldn't have been thrown into Eichen House or had her heart broken again. She also wouldn't know her dad was alive, and she couldn't decide whether that was a good thing or not. At least she knew the truth now.

As soon as the jeep pulled up in the hospital car park, the five teenagers got out of it as if it were on fire, none of them able to handle the awkwardness any longer. Isaac and Scott helped Liam out of the back, letting him put his arms around their shoulders so they could walk him in. Stiles and Harper opened all of the doors for them, up until they got to the main desk.

"Hey, we're gonna need to see a doctor. Our... friend, here, has hurt his ankle. Could be sprained, could be broken," Stiles told the woman behind the front desk, gesturing towards Liam who's face was currently screwed up in pure agony.

"Mom!" Harper heard the nervous chuckle of Scott, causing her head to turn.

Melissa had just come around the corner with a disappointed look on her face, huffing when she saw what her son had brought in. She just prayed that this had nothing to do with the supernatural as she went and got a wheelchair for the poor kid.

"If he was a werewolf he would have healed by now," Harper murmured quietly to Stiles as she watched Melissa come back with the required equipment.

"How do you know about my theory?" Stiles questioned, slightly shocked.

"Kira told me," the petite brunette shrugged, "and to be honest, I'm a little offended that you didn't think to tell me first. I mean, seriously, Kira? You didn't even trust her a few months ago."

"Well, Scott wasn't listening to me. And, listen, I wanted to tell you, I just..." Stiles scratched the back of his neck as he admitted, "I didn't want to put too much on your plate."

Harper's eyes softened, "what do you mean?"

"Well," he swallowed, "I know we haven't talked about what happened yet, but I don't want you to end up in that place again. Okay? Mentally and physically. With exams coming up, looking out for Malia, the whole Kate thing... I didn't want you to worry about something else."

Harper grabbed his hand and squeezed it, "Stiles, I can handle more than you probably think. I don't really want to talk about that night either, but... I feel better now."

"I'm glad," he whispered, leaning down and kissing the top of her head, "do you think you'll ever be ready to talk about it?"

"One day," Harper agreed quietly.

Isaac cleared his throat, ruining the moment. Harper and Stiles both looked up, Stiles rolling his whiskey eyes at the much taller werewolf.

"If you two are done reciting your little sonnet to each other in the corner," he mocked, "I have to go. I promised Malia I would help her study."

Stiles huffed, "bye."

"Bye, lover boy," she waved her hand as he began to walk down the hall, "tell Mrs Lahey I said hi."

Without turning around, Isaac raised his middle finger above his head, clearly directed at the Empath. She would tease him at school and at home, there was literally no escaping it. Harper chuckled, turning back around to her friends to see Scott looking more solemn than he probably should be looking.

"Scotty," she sighed, reaching out and squeezing his arm comfortingly, "Liam hurting his ankle isn't your fault. You didn't know that would happen. What's more important is that you wouldn't have even done it if you knew it would happen."

Scott shook his head, looking at the floor, "I don't know."

Stiles muttered, "Scott, if you had used any wolf power, that kid wouldn't be limping, he would be crawling back to the other half of his body."

"If I hadn't been so worried about being captain, he wouldn't be hurt either," Scott replied distastefully.

There was a small pause between the three best friends. Scott had nothing left to say while Harper and Stiles didn't know how to respond. Eventually, the Stilinski boy did.

"It's okay to want something for yourself every once in a while," he reassured him, "team captain, alpha werewolf. You're still only human."

...

SCOTT HAD LEFT TO CHECK UP ON LIAM ABOUT TEN MINUTES AGO, LEAVING STILES AND HARPER TO THEIR OWN DEVICES. It had only taken a few minutes for the events of the day to catch up on the Stilinski boy, his tiredness overpowering him as he fell asleep on Harper's shoulder. She'd giggled a little as his mouth fell open, snores escaping his lips.

Harper lifted her phone, snapping a few pics of him so she could show him what he looked like later. He always claimed he never slept with his mouth open due to his fear of spiders crawling in, however now she had solid proof.

Just as she went to put her phone away, it began to buzz in her hands, making her jump. Stiles groaned from her shoulder, stirring. She looked at the screen quickly.

LYDIA is calling ...

"Shh," She hushed her boyfriend as if he were a baby, "I'm going to get some snacks, kay?"

"Mhm," Stiles murmured, moving so he was leaning on his own shoulder, "hurry back, you're comfy."

His words were barely coherent as Harper chuckled, shaking her head and walking away. She turned the corner and pressed accept, balancing her phone on her shoulder as she looked at the vending machine, simultaneously shuffling through her pockets for spare change.

"Alright governor?" She teased, putting on her most obnoxious accent as she looked down the rows of snacks in concentration, "hey, what is a governor?"

"Seriously?" Lydia retorted, sounding extremely frustrated, maybe at Harper's childishness, maybe not.

"What's up?" The brunette frowned, brows knitting together.

"Tha-that family that was murdered," she began, stammering over her words as she tried to get them out clearly.

"Lydia," Harper spoke with a warning tone, "calm down."

"The son- the son is the only one that survived," the girl on the other side explained, "he's at the hospital."

"Hey, that's where I am," Harper looked around, "what a coincidence."

"Are you high?" Lydia exclaimed, "I'm being serious, Harper! Go find him. Sean Walcott."

The line was cut dead, much to Harper's dismay. She had no clue why Lydia wanted her to go see this boy, she hasn't really heard much about the whole murder case. Nevertheless, she began walking toward the front desk.

"Hi, can you tell me where Sean Walcott is?" She asked the nurse.

"Are you family?"

"Yeah," she lied.

"Room 237, sweetie."

Harper thanked the woman before going down the hall, towards the room she needed. She counted each door number as she went past them under her breath, whispering a quick "bingo" under her breath when she got to Sean's room.

Knocking on the door, she listened out for a response but got nothing in return. Harper peeked through the small glass window on the side of the door, frowning when she realised that Sean wasn't in his bed and the lights were off.

Come to think of it... shouldn't there be a police officer outside his room?

Harper pushed open the door and called worriedly, "hello? Sean?"

She heard shuffling and what sounded like slurping from the other side of the bed, making her heart stop. Her first instinct was that Sean was hurt, which is what made her rush over so quick without hesitation. However, what she saw was probably going to haunt her dreams for the rest of her life.

A teenage boy, who Harper assumed was Sean Walcott, was kneeling over the body of an unfamiliar police officer, blood around his mouth as he held what looked to be an intestine in his hands. He had been eating it.

Harper's breath was caught in her throat and she was paralysed by fear, watching as the boy looked up at her, his eyes glazed over by a milky grey colour.

"I couldn't help it, I'm so hungry," he groaned before yelling in a demonic tone, "I'm just so hungry!"

He slowly began to stand up. Harper didn't know what to do, she only knew how to run.

"It got my family," he muttered, using his arm to wipe away some of the blood around his lips, "it got yours too."

Harper took a step back, stumbling over her words as she asked, "w-who?"

"The Mute. He got my family and he got yours too," he repeated.

Harper didn't have much time to think about what he meant, her mind too wrapped around on the fact that she had just walked in on him eating a human being using his razor-sharp teeth- which he still had out, by the way.

Everything that happened next happened quickly. The frantic brunette dashed for the exit, making it out into the hallway before being grabbed maliciously. Her body fell to the ground from the weight, knocking the air out of her lungs.

"No!" She cried, her hands trying to get a grip on the slippery floor as he began to pull her back inside the room by her legs.

Once she realised she wasn't going to be able to pull herself away from him, she quickly flipped onto her back and kicked out as hard as she could, kicking Sean directly in the foot with her black pumps. The cannibalistic teenager stumbled backwards, clutching his nose which had already begun to bleed, although it looked like nothing compared to the rest of the blood covering his face, dripping onto his white shirt.

Harper used the time he was distracted to scramble back up, only just getting up before his hands were back on her, shoving her straight back down like a doll.

"No! Leave me alone!" The brunette screamed, "get away from me!"

She prayed that somebody heard her, and she hoped that somebody was Scott. He was the only chance she had at getting away from this boy without somebody else getting hurt too.

The Empath got back up as he got near her, but he used his time to shove her against the wall. His frame loomed over her like a shadow she couldn't escape, his rows of teeth on display, and to make matters worse, dripping with crimson liquid.

Sean's hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling it up so it was by her hand. She struggled against him, trying to tug her body away so hard that it stung. Tears burned in her eyes as she kicked and thrashed but to no use.

It was a sensation that Harper had never experienced in her seventeen years of life before, and Harper had been bitten by an alpha werewolf before. The rows of sharp objects all clamping down on her wrist in one go, piercing her skin and staying there for a second. Her heart was caught in her throat as for a split second everything seemed to be in slow motion. She could only imagine what it was going to be like as he pulled away, ripping her flesh away with it. She was definitely going to bleed out and die.

But before he could finish the job, large hands wrapped around Sean's neck from behind, pulling him back. Thankfully, Sean's mouth gaped open in shock, releasing his grip on her wrist. Harper clutched her wound as she watched with horrified eyes at her best friend fight the boy who had just tried to kill her.

Scott and Sean began to tackle each other just as Melissa came running down the hallway, straight to Harper who was leaning against the wall, sweat beading on her forehead. She brushed the hair out of the teenager's face, her brown eyes full of motherly concern.

"Harper, breathe," she warned, noticing how Harper's chest was barely rising- probably from the shock.

A thump came from beside them and Harper left to see Scott get thrown against a wall and Sean take off around the corner. Scott paid no attention to him, looking back at his family.

"Harper, your arm," he panicked.

"Just teeth marks," she reassured him half-heartedly, "could have been a lot worse."

He moved towards her, his hand reaching out to take some of her pain. She shook her head firmly, pursing her lips to stop herself crying out.

"Just go," she breathed, "go and stop him before he really does kill someone else."

Scott hesitated for a second before nodding quickly and taking off in the direction the other teenage boy had gone in.

"Harper!" Stiles' voice echoed and suddenly he was by her side, "I heard you scream- Oh god, what happened?" He looked at Melissa, "what happened? Is she okay?"

Melissa nodded quickly, although she looked slightly panicked too, "she's going to be fine, but we need to clean it and check how deep the teeth marks are, for sure."

Stiles' arm was wrapped around her as they rushed to the next available hospital room, away from the bloody scene. Melissa was already alerting authorities on the phone behind them, but it was kind of blurred out to Harper. All she could think about was when he had his mouth clamped around her and when she thought that was it.

"Do you think Scott's gonna be okay?" She asked Stiles as she sat down on the hospital bed.

The Stilinski boy nodded in response as he dismissed her question, "Scott's the alpha, right? He's got this. I'm more worried about the bite mark on your arm right now."

"What was that thing?" Harper gaped at him breathlessly, "he had teeth like freaking Jaws and his eyes glowed."

Stiles chewed down on his bottom lip as Melissa entered the room, quickly going over to her medical supplies.

"I have no idea," he admitted, before looking down at her arm.

Teeth marks littered her tan skin, her blood smeared slightly. It didn't look too bad in the sense that she wasn't losing much blood, but the sight was something he had never seen before. Human bites and animal bites looked like nothing compared to this. There were about twenty different teeth marks top and bottom, and he hadn't even got the back of his mouth around her yet.

"Are you in pain?"

"It hurt at first, I think it's kinda numb from shock right now," she said quietly, running her finger over one of the marks, consequently picking blood up on the way, "you don't have to sit with me if you want. I know how much you hate blood."

Stiles scoffed, "oh, I am not leaving you. Not now."

Harper forced a pained smile up at him as Melissa began to clean her arm. Stiles returned it, squeezing her hands as he glanced nervously at the door. He could only pray that Scott had this all under control.

...


	8. Chapter 8

THE JEEP PULLED UP AT ONTO THE MCCALL DRIVEWAY A FEW HOURS LATER, JUST IN TIME TO SEE THE FRONT DOOR FLY OPEN AND A FIGURE RUN OUT AS IF THE HOUSE WAS ON FIRE. Exchanging confused glances, Harper and Stiles both rushed to get out of the car before running up to the front door, which was still opening and closing in the night's breeze.

Scott and Isaac sat up on the floor right inside it, both holding one of each's foot and looking equally as horrified. Stiles' hand went to his head and he furrowed his eyebrows, struggling to comprehend what was going on.

"What the hell is this?" He exclaimed, waving his hand at the two of them before jerking his thumb backwards, "and who the hell was that?"

The alpha shook his head, closing his eyes briefly, "Liam."

"Liam Dunbar?" Harper cried, baffled, "why was he here?"

"It's a long story..." Isaac scratched the back of his neck.

"Spill."

The four teenagers went up to Scott's room, Harper immediately noticing a smashed chair from the kitchen laying across the floor. Stray pieces of duct tape also littered the carpet, leading Harper to guess what had happened.

"Please don't tell me you kidnapped him," she assumed, gesturing to the mess.

Stiles had to pause to stop himself from tripping over the heap of wood when he noticed it, quickly holding his hands out for balance before glaring at Scott for answers.

Huffing, their best friend sat down on his own bed, his head in his hands as he nodded regretfully.

"You kidnapped him, Scott!?" Stiles couldn't believe what he was hearing, or maybe he could, "why the hell d'you kidnap him?"

"Because I bit him."

A heavy silence filled the room, Harper and Stiles glancing at each other again. A million and one scenarios played in the small brunette's brain, and yet not a single one came up with a logical reason to why Scott would have bitten Liam, especially after what the Calaveras had threatened him with.

"You bit him," she repeated breathily, "why?"

"Sean got him," Scott began to explain, "he took him to the top of the hospital roof, he was trying to eat him. Anyway, it somehow ended with Liam hanging over the edge. I was holding onto him, trying to pull him back over, but with Sean trying to attack me, it was hard. It ended with me having to use my teeth to hold him up, otherwise, we would have both died."

Harper was quiet as she processed the story while Stiles nodded, "makes sense."

"How did you get rid of Sean?" The Empath asked, absentmindedly stroking the bandage wrapped around her arm.

"That's the thing," Scott responded eerily, "I didn't."

"He's still out there?" Her eyebrows furrowed in worry, Stiles placing a hand on her shoulder.

"No," he shook his head, "I didn't get rid of him, he was murdered by someone else."

"Murdered?" Stiles gaped, "by who? Why?"

This was where Scott began to struggle with his story, as even he didn't know exactly what had gone on. He was still confused, still worried out of his mind, but he had had Liam to deal with at the time, pushing out his thoughts of the murderer.

"It was- It was a man," he tried to explain, "he looked human... but at the same time, he didn't? I don't know how to explain him. He had no mouth."

Harper mind flashed back to what Sean had told her moments before he had tried to eat her. Something about a man killing his family, and hers. The Mute.

"Huh?" Isaac looked at her with raised brows.

Harper snapped out of her thoughts, "did I say something out loud?"

"You said 'the Mute'," Scott nodded, "do you know who he is?"

The brunette shook her head and hesitated before replying, "Sean told me someone called 'The Mute' murdered his family."

Stiles groaned, "great, another serial killer in Beacon Hills. How lovely."

"He left before I could do anything," Scott carried on, ignoring Stiles' blatant sarcasm, "and then I freaked out and I took Liam and ran home. He was passed out so I tied him up and I put him in the bathtub-"

"The bathtub?" Harper exclaimed, "god, Scott, out of everywhere in this bloody house you put him in a bathtub? He must have been scared out of his mind!"

Isaac nodded eagerly at her, flinging his hand in the brunette's direction, "exactly what I said."

Scott rolled his eyes, "okay, okay, so I wasn't thinking. Anyway, Isaac and I put him in a chair and explained that he had been bitten and if he didn't live he was going to die-"

"Oh, gosh," Harper breathed.

"Harper!" The Hispanic boy exclaimed in a childish whine, "I know my ideas aren't the best-"

"You can say that again."

"But please stop cutting me off!" He finished, sending a short glare her way, "Liam ended up freaking out and he smacked us with the chair and run away. Story finished."

Stiles remained silent, scratching his chin as he tried to process everything his best friend had said. Scott had bitten a freshman, either killing him or turning him into a creature of the night, he had then kidnapped said-freshman and ended up getting beaten up by the kid who later ran away.

"Okay," he muttered, "okay."

Scott looked at him hopefully.

"Okay," he repeated for the third time.

"Gonna say anything other than 'okay'?" Isaac retorted, folding his arms across his chest.

Stiles glared, "I don't see you coming up with any good ideas."

"The full moon's tomorrow," Harper inputted, trying to stop the argument bound to take place, "I say we meet up at school tomorrow and think of a plan to get Liam away from everyone else. He's going to be dangerous, and we don't know a thing about this kid so we have no idea how he'll react."

Scott frowned, "so what now?"

"Now..." Harper rolled her neck back, clicking it in the process, "I'm going to have a hot bath and relax."

The three boys watched as she walked away, pulling her hair out of the bun on her head so it cascaded down her shoulders. It had grown a lot over the past year since she cut it to shoulder length, the dark brown waves ending just below her breasts.

"And I'm going to join her," Stiles grinned cheekily, not missing the grimace he earned from the McCall boy, "hey, for protective purposes only. We don't want Liam sneaking through the window and eating her now, do we?"

"I hate you," Scott called as Stiles followed where Harper had gone.

"Hate you, too!"

Isaac turned to Scott and sighed, "we'll be needing headphones tonight... Again."

...

HARPER WOKE UP WITH HER HEAD ON STILES' NAKED CHEST, CAUSING A GRIN TO RUPTURE ON HER FACE. His heart was beating slowly against her ear, quickly becoming her new favourite song. Stiles had obviously been awake and felt the movement, a sleepy chuckle escaping his lips.

"Morning, beautiful," he greeted, his voice unusually deep.

"How long have you been awake?" Harper mumbled, her arm going over her face to cover her eyes from the sunlight pouring through the window.

"Ten minutes maybe," Stiles guessed.

The brunette snuggled against him, her hand absentmindedly starting to run up and down the hair trailing up his chest. Harper had always thought she preferred men with no hair on their chests, until the first time she saw Stiles shirtless. He didn't have lots- just a bit at the top and a happy trail.

"You been watching me sleep?" She hummed teasingly.

"I'd say watching is the wrong term, maybe admiring."

Awing, Harper sat up so she was propped on her elbow, finally able to see his face. His hazel eyes were brighter due to the sunlight pouring through, his dark hair all messed up and a sleepy grin on his face.

"You have bed hair," he cooed, reaching forwards and running his hand through the top, pausing when his slender fingers got caught in a knot.

Harper chuckled, flicking his forehead, "so do you," she gently took his hand away using his wrist, "stay out of my hair, stalker."

"Make me," he leaned forwards, tackling her into a sloppy kiss.

His girlfriend pulled back immediately, laughing, "Sti! We both have morning breath, you dork."

"But I wanna kiss you," he whined.

"We can do all the kissing you want after I've brushed my teeth," she promised, pulling the sheets off of her body and climbing out of her bed.

Stiles took a few moments to admire the teenage girl as she walked around the room in only her underwear and bra, searching for her dressing gown. With his hands behind his head and his head propped up against some pillows, the Stilinski boy couldn't be more comfortable.

He gave her a wolf whistle as she bent down to get her dressing gown off of the floor, causing the brunette to laugh and flip him off. She shrugged it on and tied it around her waist.

"Perv," she muttered, shaking her head as she left the room.

Harper came back up the stairs once she had grabbed a glass of water, taking a sip as she passed Isaac's room. The door was wide open and sat on the bed was the Lahey boy himself, alongside Malia Tate. She was a little surprised to see Malia had spent the night, but then again, their attraction for each other was undeniable. However, Harper spluttered a little as she took a sip of her drink when she saw the chains he was wrapping around Malia's wrist.

Isaac's blue eyes snapped up to her and he shook his head, "this is not what you're thinking."

Smirking the brunette shrugged, "looks like you're helping her with the full moon tonight. Why, Isaac? What did you think I was implying?"

The werecoyote nodded, also looking at him expectantly. Due to only being a human for less than half a year now, Malia was still very innocent and oblivious to the jokes the pack often shared around the lunch table.

Isaac scratched the back of his neck, "well... Your reaction clearly implied..."

Harper feigned uncertainty, "I'm confused."

"Me too," Malia agreed.

The werewolf glared at the girl in the doorway. She sent him an innocent smile before walking back down the hall to her room where Stiles was waiting. She had to start getting ready. After all, today was a big day for the pack. It was Liam's first full moon.

...

"AH, MY WRIST."

Scott glanced down at his best friend worriedly, seeing Harper wincing as she held said-body-part, her fingers barely grazing the bandaged area. He held her arm, eyebrows raising as no pain left.

"Not from me," she whispered, "it's not my bite... I think it's his."

The alpha followed her gaze, seeing Liam standing where the buses had just dropped off dozens of new freshmen. Despite the friend he was stood with looking ready for the day, Liam looked as if he was about to have a nervous breakdown. His honey hair stuck to his forehead, his pale skin covered with sweat as he breathed heavily.

"He's in pain," Harper murmured, not breaking eye contact with Liam as he looked up, watching her and Scott suspiciously, "can he hear us?"

Scott didn't reply, he just stared until Liam looked back to his friend.

"Come on," he muttered, pulling her in another direction, towards the school.

"What are you doing? Trying to be a Derek 2.0?" Harper hissed, although she didn't make an attempt to stop Scott from dragging her, "you gonna keep popping up in random places without saying anything? He's terrified, Scott."

They weaved in and out of other kids as they made their way halfway around the outside of the school, no answers coming from the alpha. Now he was really starting to remind Harper of Derek when Scott first got bit.

Scott gave a short nod, "and we're about to give him some answers."

He pushed open the side entrance doors to the school, finding Liam frantically looking between them and Stiles, who had clearly just rushed after him.

"Hey, Liam, stop!" Stiles ordered, pointing his finger.

"We need to talk," Scott attempted a calmer approach, moving his hand to touch Liam's shoulder.

"No, you need to back the hell up, okay? All three of you," the freshman seethed, glaring particularly hard at Stiles who stumbled back, holding the straps of his backpack awkwardly.

Harper could sense the anger and confusion radiating from the younger boy, only making her sympathise with him more. He must have been so freaked out when he got home last night just having been almost murdered and then bitten by a guy that broke his ankle- which then miraculously cured, too.

"Can you just listen for one second. Please?" Scott begged.

Liam managed to calm down a little, sending the tan boy a nod.

"Liam..." he began before pausing awkwardly, "we're brothers now."

"What?"

Harper's lips parted, a small scoff passing them as she stared at her friend who she thought was smarter than that. Stiles also appeared displeased by Scott's grand opening statement, muttering a curse under his breath and smacking his hand against his forehead.

"What are you talking about?" Liam continued, "we just met and you bit me."

"The bite..." Scott nodded, trying to think something up on the spot, "the bite is a gift."

"Scott, stop. Please stop," the other boy pleaded, moving to stand in between Scott and Harper as he pointed back at Liam, "you- you. We are trying to help you, you little runt."

Harper crinkled her nose. Not exactly what she would have called him, but sure.

"By kidnapping me?" Retorted Liam.

Harper jabbed her thumb at the Hispanic boy, "him. He did that... Not us."

Scott sent her a look while Stiles nodded along.

"Just to clarify if you went to the police-"

"Liam," the alpha cut her off, "I've gone through this before. Something's happening to you. Something big."

Liam shook his head in disbelief, "nothing's happening to me."

He ripped his bandage off, revealing clear, sunkissed skin. Stiles cocked his head to the side, his lips parted in what looked like surprise, but at the same time not really. Harper chewed down on her bottom lip. The bite had healed.

"Nothing," he repeated and stomped off.

...

"I'M NOT SHARING MY BASEMENT."

The pack meeting that Harper had suggested last night was currently taking place in between the school buses outside of the main building. It was the only place on the entire site that didn't have potentials ears listening in.

The topic of discussion was of course Liam Dunbar and how the seven teenagers were going to deal with him tonight on his first full moon. It had already been decided that they would use Lydia's family's cabin.

Lydia sent Malia a stern look, "actually, it's my basement. And my mum noticed how you tore it up last time."

Harper placed her arm around the werecoyote and squeezed her, "aw, give Mal a break. She's trying her hardest, and so far she's improved a lot."

"Thanks to you, Isaac and Stiles," Malia grinned back.

A waft of jealousy came from the circle of teenagers. Harper had expected it to be from Stiles, for whatever reason she didn't know, however it was radiating off of the banshee of the group.

Harper's brows knitted together as the pack carried on thinking of ideas, the sudden realisation that Lydia was jealous of Malia hitting her. The strawberry blonde hadn't been jealous of Harper that night- she had been envious of Stiles.

With a lump in her throat, Harper shook her head. It couldn't be true- Lydia was her best friend.

Then again, Stiles had been her best friend too.

But this was Lydia Martin. She went out with boys like Jackson Whittemore and Aiden Steiner, she didn't crush on girls like Harper Verum.

Right?

The conversation she had had with Stiles the other day about soulmates suddenly didn't seem so out of the blue. For god's sake, he had asked her if she would ever leave him for anyone in the pack.

For someone that got an average of As in most of her subjects, Harper sure was stupid.

Now a whirlwind of emotions had hit the brunette. She was confused, question upon question filtering her brain and making it ache. For how long had Lydia liked her? When did she realise? Why did she like her? And finally, what the hell?

Stiles clicked his fingers in front of her face, snapping her out of her trance. She licked her bottom lip and sent him a nervous smile.

"Sorry, totally zoned out there," she lied.

"I guessed that," Stiles replied, slightly amused, "everybody else left to start the plan."

"Oh... what's the plan?" Harper asked halfheartedly, thinking more about the whole Lydia situation if she was to be honest.

"Kira's gonna ask Liam to a party at Lydia's," Stiles shrugged as the couple started to walk away from the buses and towards the school, "what were you thinking about anyway?"

Harper swallowed again. Hard.

"Did you know..." she squeaked, rubbing her hands together anxiously as the started to get slightly clammy.

"Did I know..?" Stiles gestured for her to continue.

"About Lydia," Harper breathed, "did everyone know before me?"

Her boyfriend paused in his tracks, sighing with a nod.

"I figured it out. The way she looks at you..." he shook his head, "the same way I'd look at you before you noticed me."

Harper's heart ached. She didn't want Lydia to like her. Lydia deserves to like someone who like her back, and Harper only loved her as a friend.

This could be a dilemma.


	9. Chapter 9

HARPER WAS TYING her hair up into a bun when her phone started to buzz from her desk. Sighing, she dropped the thick locks and hairband, tossing it on her bed before going to the electronic device, curious to see who was calling. Her eyebrows raised when she saw it was coming from a random number.

"Hello?"

"Harper, get here right now."

"Um," the brunette replied awkwardly, "who is this?"

"Peter!" The familiar voice announced, frustrated, "you don't have me saved in your contacts?"

He almost sounded offended, and Harper would have been amused had he not sounded so freaked out.

"Should I?" She retorted, "you did kind of ruin my friends' lives'."

"You don't count, you would have become an Empath at eighteen anyway," the older man rushed, "but that's beside the point, you need to get to Derek's flat. Now. You have some questions you need answering."

"Can it wait?" Harper looked over at the clock, seeing she had about half an hour until she had to leave for Lydia's fake lake house party, "I have a thing I need to go to, and it's important."

"No, it can't wait."

Peter hung up before the teenage girl could protest, much to her dismay. Harper knew she could just ignore him and start getting ready to go out, however, her curiosity got the best of her, and before she knew it, she had slipped some black pumps on and was out the front door.

Luckily, Beacon Hills wasn't too big, so Derek didn't live far. She arrived ten minutes later, which obviously wasn't good enough for the former alpha, who rolled his eyes as she walked through the sliding doors.

"I told you I had other commitments," Harper huffed, crossing her arms.

She noticed quickly that Peter had no shirt on, sweat covering him like a second skin. In the centre of his chest was a hole, still bleeding slightly. Harper winced at the sight of it, but looked away quickly, feeling awkward. Derek was there too, which made her feel slightly more comfortable.

"I told you I had other commitments," Peter mimicked her accent and exaggerated a higher pitch, which, by the way, sounded awfully stereotypical.

"Just tell me what you need," she checked the watch on her wrist, thankful she still had about fifteen minutes.

"Tell me what you know about this," Derek's uncle demanded, lifting up a bloody axe from the table.

Harper's face held an expression of disgust, "ur, it's an axe, it's got blood on it... judging from the hole in your chest, probably yours-"

Derek had to hold back an amused smile as his uncle got angry, "I don't need you to describe it to me," he slammed it back on the table, "I want you to tell me why it ended up in my chest."

"You probably pissed someone off again," Harper glared, "a lot of people don't like you, you know. I have no idea what the axe is about or how it ended up in your chest. Nothing."

"She doesn't know, Peter," Derek deadpanned, realising the older man was on the brink of a breakdown, "just like I told you."

"What about this?" Peter ignored him, holding up what looked like to be a keypad attached to some sort of material.

Harper shook her head again.

"Why are you calling me over? Stiles knows way more about this kind of stuff than me," Harper gestured towards the attempted-murder weapon.

"Because he didn't say he was after Stiles. He said he was after Derek. And you."

...

HARPER'S LITTLE MEETING with the two Hale men made her late to her pack's fake lake party. Stiles had offered to wait around, but she told him not to bother, otherwise, they'd both be late. A quick text to Scott was all that was needed before a motorcycle pulled up in front of her two minutes later.

He pulled off his helmet, a frown on his face, "why were you at Derek's?"

"It's a long story," Harper breathed, "I'll tell you later, after the full moon when we have Liam under control."

She climbed onto the back of the bike, wrapping her arms around his waist tight, her cheek pressed against his back. Harper felt him chuckle underneath her, amusement rolling off him like warmth from a candle.

"Are you gonna cling to me like that the whole time?" The alpha teased.

"I'm scared," Harper whined, her voice muffled against his back, "no offence, but I don't really trust you."

"I'm your best friend," Scott claimed, "how do you not trust me?

"Remember when we were ten and you said you'd ride me home on your bike? I stood on your stunt pegs, but then you hit that rock and we went flying? And my knees were bleeding so bad and you said-"

"I said, 'you probably shouldn't trust me to ride you home anymore'," Scott finished, smiling at the memory, "yeah, I remember. I also remember that we were ten."

"I'm not taking any chances," she squeezed him tighter, "ride, teen wolf."

Scott chuckled and shook his head before starting the engine and driving off.

...

SCOTT PULLED UP outside Lydia's lake house, right in front of Stiles, Isaac, Malia and Lydia who and been waiting by the jeep. Finally, Harper released her tight grip on Scott's waist and jumped off of the bike, thankful to be in control of her own movement for now.

"I just talked to Kira, she's on her way. She says it's all going fine," the alpha insisted as he pulled his helmet off, placing it on the handles of his bike.

"No, it's not that, I have to tell you something," Stiles replied solemnly, "I asked around about Liam. I know why he got kicked out of his last school."

Harper's brows knitted together, "Oh bloody hell. What did he do?"

She honestly expected the worst. While Liam looked like innocent enough, Harper knew how angry he had got when she, Scott and Stiles had cornered him this morning at school, or how he'd managed to hit Isaac and Scott over the heads with a chair and completely shatter it.

"He kind of got into it with one of his teachers, and, ugh—"

"The kid's got some serious anger issues," Isaac cut in.

"How serious?" Asked the McCall boy.

Stiles shoved his phone in their faces, "well, that's the teacher's car. After he took a crowbar to it."

Harper got on her tippy goes to see what her two best friends were looking at, her eyes widening at the sight. She wasn't expecting to see a deformed, blue car that had clearly taken some vengeful hits. Scraped across the sides on the two doors, it read: "this is your fault".

"Congrats, Scott," Isaac beamed sarcastically, "you gave the bite to a kid with extreme anger issues."

...

LIAM OPENED THE door first, his face dropping immediately when he saw the pack stood in the middle of the room and not his first high school party. Stiles sent him an awkward wave while Scott pursed his lips. Kira closed the door behind them, preventing him from leaving.

"Sorry," she muttered half-heartedly.

Liam turned back to the group, staring them all down.

"What the hell is this?" He demanded.

"Think of it like an intervention," Stiles proposed, "you have a problem, Liam."

Scott took a step forward, "and we're the only ones that can help."

And so the pack explained everything. From briefly explaining how it had started with the night in the woods, to what species they were, the full moon... Liam didn't look too convinced, still.

"Werewolves?" He pointed at Scott and Isaac.

"Werecoyote."

Malia nodded proudly.

"Banshee," he gestured to Lydia before turning to Kira, "Fox?"

"Kitsune," The Yukimura girl shrugged, "but fox works."

"Empath," Liam pointed at Harper before looking to her boyfriend, "and what are you?"

"Uh, for a little while I was possessed by an evil spirit," Stiles tried, "it was very evil."

Even evil is an understatement, Harper thought.

"What are you now?"

"Better? Um..."

Harper bit back an amused laugh, knowing now was definitely not the time to make Liam feel even worse. The anger was rolling off of him red and hot, you didn't need to be an Empath to detect it. In fact, if he were in a cartoon, he'd most definitely have steam pouring from his nose and ears.

His blue eyes trailed from the older teenagers down to the gym bag full of chains that had been left scattered across the oak coffee table.

"Are those for me?" His arms were folded across his chest as he became defensive, ready to explode.

"No," Malia shook her head, her eyes turning electric blue, "they're for me."

Liam's breath grew heavy, "how did you do that?"

"You'll learn," Scott reassured him, although Harper was pretty sure the freshman still thought this was one big, very high maintenance, prank, "but first, you need to get through the full moon."

"The moon's already out," he spat.

"And you're starting to feel something... aren't you?"

"I feel like I'm surrounded by a bunch of psychotic nutjobs!" He yelled, "you guys are out of your freaking minds. I don't know how you did that eye thing and I don't care. I'm walking out the door right now! And if any of you try to stop me, I swear to god, I'm gonna-"

Liam was cut off by a piercing pain shooting through his head, one that Harper felt a little too. She winced a the dull ache, watching helplessly as the younger teenager experienced it on a much more intense level. He held his hands to his ears, crying out and groaning.

"What's wrong, Liam?" Scott moved forward.

"You don't hear that?" He cried back.

Harper listened closely, quickly realising it was a car pulling into the driveway of the lake house. Headlights lit up the dark room before switching off, car doors slamming.

"Did you tell anyone about this?" Lydia muttered.

"My friend Mason," Liam panted, still kneeling on the wooden floor, "you said it was a party."

"Who did Mason invite?" Harper sighed as the sounds of teenagers cheering echoed from outside.

"Everyone," Kira bit her lip as she peeked out of the blinds.

Painful scratching sounds groaned in Harper's ears, her dark eyes casting to Liam who was now clawing at the floor, leaving white markings behind. Lydia dashed forwards, her brows knitting together in worry.

"The floors!" She stressed, "get him off the floors."

Liam's head snapped up at her and he roared, his eyes glowing golden, hair sprouting from the sides of his face and his fangs sharper than knives. Harper quickly grabbed her friend's wrist, pulling her back. Lydia gasped, holding onto Harper's arm.

Isaac dove forwards before Liam could attack anyone else, pulling him up with the help of Scott. Kira followed close behind as the pulled him out of the room, away from the people that were close to knocking on the door.

Another roar came from behind Harper and Lydia, causing the pair to whirl around. Malia was looking straight at them, her eyes bright blue and her fangs also out. She hunched over the coffee table, trying to restrain herself like she had been learning.

"Malia," Harper let go of Lydia to hold her other friend, "Stiles, you need to get her down to the basement right now."

Nodding, the Stilinski boy grabbed the gym back and hurled it over his shoulder, his other hand clasped around Malia's forearm.

"What are we supposed to do?" Lydia freaked out.

Stiles rolled his eyes at her, "Lydia, who throws the best parties in Beacon Hills?"

The strawberry blonde looked offended, "what? Me, obviously!"

"Okay, then throw a party," Stiles instructed, looking to his girlfriend, "you need to come down and help me as soon as you're done helping Lydia."

"I need Isaac," Malia grunted, "he's my anchor."

"Well, Isaac's not here right now," Stiles snapped, pulling her away.

Harper turned to her best friend, her eyes a little wide as the doorbell rang. Lydia looked back at her, also frowning. The pair hesitantly moved to it and pulled it open, revealing over a hundred kids crowding her driveway.

"Hey," Liam's friend from earlier greeted, "uh, are we in the right place?"

"For the party?" Another blonde kid asked.

The strawberry blonde's pink lips twisted into a fake smile, "absolutely."

Cheers erupted from the underage teenagers, causing Harper to mentally roll her eyes. They all began to file inside the house, immediately filling it with noise. Harper turned to Lydia, a little worried.

"This was not part of the plan," the brunette hissed.

"Well, you can thank your boyfriend for that," Lydia spoke back bitterly.

Harper raised her eyebrows, "this is not Stiles' fault."

"It was his plan to let them all in," the green-eyed girl responded.

"Liam called them in the first place."

"If Stiles hadn't of come up with the idea to tell Liam a party was going-"

"Stop it, Lydia," Harper cut her off in annoyance, "you don't get to blame Stiles for everything just because you-"

The Empath froze, not wanting to give away that she knew about her best friend's crush. No way did Harper want to embarrass her or potentially ruin their friendship by acknowledging it. To be honest, she planned on just waiting for Lydia's little crush to just go away so they never had to mention it.

"Just because I what?" She replied harshly.

Harper chewed on her lip, shaking her head, "forget about it."

...

MUSIC POUNDED THROUGHOUT the room, some song from one of the freshman's iPods, as Harper whizzed in and out of every room, trying to keep the place as clean as possible as instructed by Lydia. She had seen the strawberry blonde yelling at a few kids every now and then, clearly in a pissed off mood.

Hands suddenly went around her waist, making her jump up. Pushing her elbow back, she jammed it into the person's gut, listening as they bent over, grunting. Harper whirled around to find that the culprit had been her boyfriend, instantly calming her heart rate but also making her feel awful.

"Stiles," she blurted, kneeling down next to him and guiding him back up, "oh god, I'm so sorry, Sti-"

"It's okay, it's okay," the Stilinski boy reassured as he brushed her hands off of him and took a deep breath, "at least I know you can defend yourself against pervs now."

Harper scoffed, smiling a little as she held onto his hand and squeezed it, still feeling immensely guilty for hurting him. Stiles knew exactly how bad she felt, so he leaned down, pressing his lips against hers. Harper's hands immediately went to his hair, tugging at it slightly as she moved her lips back against his.

With his large hands rested on her hips, Stiles tilted his head, his tongue grazing her bottom lip. Harper opened her mouth, allowing for him to deepen the kiss. Their tongues danced against each other, their grips tightening as the music got a lot more intense. Harper was faintly aware of some freshman kids snickering around them, yelling things like 'get a room', but the older couple just ignored them.

Stiles groaned against her lips, the vibrations travelling down her whole body, his hot breath hitting her lips momentarily. His hands slowly went from her hips to move down south, causing Harper to break away as she jumped and giggled. Her lips tingled and when she glanced up at Stiles', she saw that they were bright red and slightly bruised.

"Not in front of a bunch of fourteen and fifteen-year-olds," she whispered against his ear, causing him to shudder.

"Later," he muttered back, making Harper grin.


	10. Chapter 10

"YOU'RE LYDIA'S FRIENDS, RIGHT?"

Harper glanced up from where she had been pouring herself and Stiles a drink, finding Liam's friend from before staring at them expectantly. Out of habit, Stiles folded his arms across his chest and nodded.

"What's it to you?" He questioned almost defensively.

The dark-skinned boy looked at him strangely, "well, she's split some wine on one of her carpets and she seems pretty upset about it. I don't know where the stain remover is, but–"

Harper cut him off, "don't worry about it, we'll go help."

Stiles nodded as the brunette grabbed his hand, leading him up the staircase, completely ditching their drinks. They ignored the bodies pushing them left and right, finally making it up the stairs.

"Lydia?" Stiles called.

Harper tried the handle to one of the doors. It swung open, revealing a couple of fifteen-year-olds getting it on. Stiles and Harper both cringed immediately, slamming the door shut again to prevent seeing anything they didn't want to.

The Empath banged her fist on the door, "downstairs!"

"Cockblock," Stiles teased as they walked further down the hallway, opening every door on the way.

"That's Scott's brand," Harper joked, pushing the last door open.

The room inside was nothing like the rest of the house. It was taking minimalism to another level. With pure white walls and matching carpets, the room sported only a record player set up with speakers either side. That, and a bright, red wine stain next to a knocked-over bottle.

"Lydia? Are you okay?"

The strawberry blonde in question was stood in front of the record player, looking extremely distraught. In fact, she looked as though the vintage object had just told her it had murdered her entire family. She ignored Harper's questions.

"What do you hear?" Stiles gestured to the vinyl spinning.

"The key," Lydia croaked, her eyes not adjusting from their positions, "they key to break the code."

A few moments later, Lydia sat at a desk with her MacBook sat out in front of her, hundreds of codes popping up on her screen. Harper realised this was the same coding Lydia had given Malia as maths notes without even realising it a few days ago.

Lydia began to type something before a box popped up at the bottom, telling her to insert the keyword.

Slowly, the Banshee typed the password.

ALLISON.

Harper's heart was practically pounding out of her chest as the green-eyed girl hit enter, a list of names coming up one by one, numbers to the right of them. Her eyes widened as she watched her brother's name pop up, hers right under it. Scott was also there, and Lydia, Isaac, Derek, Kira...

"What is this?" Harper gulped.

"It's a list of supernaturals in Beacon Hills," Lydia replied instantly, "it's a dead pool."

Stiles' gaze instantly checked where his friends were on the list, his heart dripping further when he saw his girlfriend's name under her half-brothers, a thirty right beside it.

"And we're all on it," the brunette whispered, "oh god. This is fucked. This is so fucked up—"

Stiles placed a hand down on her arm, settling the rising panic inside her a little.

"Print these off," ordered the Stilinski boy, sounding oddly like his father giving commands to his deputies.

Nodding, Lydia clicked a few buttons and stood up from her seat. Before she passed the couple to go to the printer, she clasped Harper's hand and squeezed it. Harper's gaze lifted from the carpet, slightly shocked.

"You're gonna be okay," she reassured her, releasing her hand and exiting.

Stiles stared after the strawberry blonde, feeling a little awkward. Knowing she had a crush on his girlfriend, and now that Harper knew... He felt like Lydia could steal Harper away from him any second, despite all of the endless reassurance his girl provided him with.

"I'll text Scott," Harper pulled her phone out, immediately starting to type.

Stiles sat back down at the desk, scanning Lydia's laptop- or more the names on it. He recognised a few names from people at school, and the first one happened to be Sean Walcott.

"Harps, look," he pointed at the letters.

Harper leaned over his shoulder, her hair practically falling in front of Stiles' face. He moved it away gently.

"The Mute," Harper recalled, "Sti, he must have been an assassin. He killed Sean and his whole family."

"A professional killer," muttered the dark-haired boy, "isn't that lovely?"

Ignoring his sarcastic remark, Harper's brows began to tie together as she thought more about the encounter she had had with Sean Walcott in the hospital. Her fingers skimmed the bandage on her arm absentmindedly.

"What are you thinking?" Stiles asked when he noticed her behaviour, "do you know something else?"

The brunette's heartbeat picked up a little, pursing her lips as she grabbed her phone back out of her pocket. Stiles sat up straighter in his seat.

"What is it?" He urged.

"Peter told me this guy was looking for me," Harper rushed, not looking up as she was scrolling through her contacts, "he was gonna try and kill me tonight."

Stiles' eyes widened, "we gotta tell my dad."

"That's not all," she swallowed thickly, clicking the contact she swore she would never call again, "in hospital, Sean told me that The Mute had murdered his whole family. Then he said he had murdered mine too."

Stiles frowned deeply, "your dad? He's not supernatural."

Harper bit her lip and shook her head, "no, not my dad. Harry."

His whiskey eyes moved to the mentioned name on the screen, the one right under Harper's.

HARRY VALACK 30  
HARPER VERUM 30

"You think he killed Harry?"

Harper pulled her phone away from her ear as the robotic woman began to replace the ringing, letting her know Harry wasn't going to answer.

"Or he's going to kill him."

...

THE AIR WAS chilly, making Harper's skin prickle as she exited the corner shop, a plastic bag containing milk inside. Of course, Melissa had only just realised that they had run out, meaning Harper had the chore of going to get some more at eleven at night.

No other human life could be sensed, she had left it back in the store. Only street lamps lit her way home- and quite dimly, too.

Harper moved to the edge of the pavement, looking both ways before crossing. Just as she got halfway, a body dove into hers, sending her tumbling. The milk that had been in her hands had rolled under a car, but that was the least of her worries.

The brunette looked up, eyes wide. They tried to adjust in the darkness, and when they did she was already halfway up off the ground. It was a shadow of a figure, also climbing back up.

"What the hell?" Harper yelled.

The figure approached her and while it was too dark to make out who it was, Harper could tell it was a teenage girl, only a few inches taller than her. She had something in her hands that she was swinging around. Harper couldn't see it but she could hear it slicing through the air, leading her to believe it was most likely a weapon.

"The more you struggle, the messier this will be," the unfamiliar girl responded smugly.

Yep, definitely a weapon.

Sucking in a deep breath, Harper thought quickly before whipping around and taking off into a run. Running seemed to be the only thing she could do when faced with danger. She had no weapons like Allison, no venom like Jackson, no fangs or claws like Scott. The sound of the girl's boots following after her echoed mockingly.

Harper got to a corner and dove around it, pressing her back to the wall. The girl came around the corner a couple of seconds later, slowing down to a halt when she realised Harper was gone.

The brunette waited a second before jumping on her back, knocking her to the ground this time. Grunts came from the girl below as Harper pressed her face into the road, not letting her back up. All Harper could see now was the girl's long, black hair and her thin build.

She had no idea what to do now. As soon as she let the attempted-murderer go, she was just going to try and kill her again.

"Who's telling you to do this?" Harper ordered, "it was the dead pool, wasn't it? Who made it?"

Of course, the unknown girl gave no response, just swinging her arms back to try and get Harper off. Harper dodged her them, biting her lip as she contemplated what her next move was.

"Harper!" Derek's voice came from nearby, followed my masculine grunts.

The girl used Harper's moment of distraction to flip, the Empath landing back on the ground. However, before any damage could be done, hands wrapped under Harper's arms and pulled her up and backwards.

"Run!" Derek ordered at her, not releasing her forearm as they legged it down the road.

Harper panted, her brown eyes casting back every now and then. She saw a boy and girl standing in the middle of the road. She had no clue who they were from the distance.

The pair didn't stop running until they made it to Derek's loft, where Peter was lounging about in a white shirt covered by blood. The sight made her feel queasy.

"What was that?" Harper turned to Derek, "who were they?"

"Some stupid teenagers trying to get some money out of the dead pool," Derek huffed.

Peter raised his brows from where he stood by the spiralling metal staircase.

"Well, at least you don't have to worry about The Mute anymore," the oldest man added.

At least now the blood made sense. Harper wasn't surprised that Peter had murdered The Mute. Not only had the assassin pissed him off enough to call up Harper, but the former alpha also had murderous tendencies and was, in fact, an actual murderer.

Sighing, Harper dropped down onto the couch, her head against the back as she closed her eyes.

"Thanks for helping me," she mumbled to Derek.

Derek didn't acknowledge her kind words, instead asking, "why were you out there anyway? You're lucky I was there, otherwise, Scott would be finding your dead body in the middle of the road tomorrow on the way to school."

Shuddering at the visual, Harper sat up straighter, "I was running an errand. I need to text Melissa and tell him I'm gonna be late."

Harper felt for the device in her pocket, finding it quickly before typing her message.

TO MELISSA.

hey, melissa. something happened and i probably wont be home for a bit. im with derek so don't worry :)

Harper went to put her phone back down, her eyes pausing on the text that she had sent before the one she just did. It was to Harry, asking him to call her. Of course, she had received no response.

Derek noticed her hesitance, "what's wrong with you?"

Her brown eyes flickered up to the much taller man and his uncle who had gone to stand beside him.

"Do either of you know how to trace phones?"


	11. Chapter 11

GLEN CAPRI WAS a runner up for one of the worst places Harper had ever visited in her seventeen years of existence, tucked right under Eichen House itself. Any memory she had of the place consisted of dark words and horrible feelings. Not only was it the place that started the rough patch between Harper and Stiles, but it was also where some of her best friends had tried to kill themselves.

After twenty minutes or so of looking, Derek, Peter, and Harper had found that Harry's phone had been last used at that exact motel. Harper couldn't believe it at first. She had no idea if it was pure coincidence, or if Harry had gone their intentionally. Either way, Harper still knew what she had to do.

"Hello?" She held her phone to her ear, ignoring Derek and Peter who were looking at her expectantly, "yeah, I'm calling to see if you have anyone called Harry Valack staying there."

"Harry Valack?" Harper could tell it was the same woman from before due to her raspy voice, most likely from years and years of chainsmoking, "nope, nothing here, sweetheart. Is there anything else I can help you with?"

Huffing in defeat, Harper replied, "no. Thank you."

She hung up the phone and looked to the two men, "she said-"

"We know," Derek cut in, "werewolf hearing, remember?"

Harper rolled her eyes, dropping back down onto the couch, "I don't get it. If his phone is there, why isn't he?"

"He's probably using a fake name," Peter explained, "if he's on the run from the Eichen workers and he's not welcome by the Sheriff of Beacon Hills, he most likely didn't want anyone to find him."

Standing back up, Harper nodded and shrugged her coat on, "thank you both, honestly."

"Where are you going?" Derek demanded as the brunette headed for the sliding doors, ready to leave, "don't tell me that you're going to Glen Capri with those assassins still on the loose."

"I'm going with Stiles," the Empath claimed.

"Stiles," Peter repeated with a mocking laugh, "how is skinny, defenceless Stiles going to help you if an assassin tries to attack his precious, little jeep?"

Harper clenched her jaw, not appreciating the way he was talking about her boyfriend at all. In fact, she despised the way that people called him defenceless, they were practically labelling him useless. However, Harper believed he was so much more than that.

"Don't call him that," she snapped, her brows furrowed.

The blue-eyed man chuckled, "struck a nerve there."

"You're an arse," Harper rolled her eyes, turning back around, "I don't even know why I'm listening to you."

A hand clamped down on her shoulder, preventing her from leaving.

"Harper, wait," Derek sighed in defeat, "I'll go with you."

"Why would you go with me?"

"Because I know what it feels like."

"What feels like?"

"To have family that screw you over, but you still care about them," he spoke firmly, no emotions slipping past his lips or through his eyes.

Peter gave Harper a wave from behind Derek, indicating that he was that family member.

Harper could feel Derek's concern, which is probably what made her crack. Sighing with a nod, she watched as Derek moved the coffee table and grabbed his car keys.

"We're in for a long journey," the werewolf reminded her, "I hope you don't get travel sick."

...

"HARPER, WAKE UP."

The brunette shifted in her seat, annoyed to find that she had fallen asleep yet again. She turned in her seat, finding Derek looking at her with raised eyebrows. A giggle came from the backseat making Harper's neck twist back at the speed of lightning.

"Did you know you snore?" Allison teased.

Gulping, Harper turned back away from the hunter and pressed her head against the seat, scrunching her eyes shut. Allison's dead. This is a dream.

"This is a dream," she whispered under her breath, "this is a dream."

Her phone began to ring, making her jump. Quickly, she grasped it and held it to her ear, ignoring the strange looks she was receiving from Derek and Allison.

"Harper," Lydia's voice rang down the other end, no surprise to Harper.

"Let me guess," Harper swallowed thickly, looking at Allison in the mirror, "Allison's not dead."

There was a heavy silence on the other end of the phone before the strawberry blonde whispered shakily, "you know where to find her."

The line went dead, consequently causing Harper's heart to stop for a second. She looked down at the device, her eyes bulging when she noticed not five fingers holding it, but six. Derek's eyebrows furrowed together and he reached his hand out, placing it on Harper's shoulder reassuringly.

"Harper... are you okay?" His voice sounded under water.

Harper's eyes snapped open, this time for real. The brunette quickly turned in the seat, relief hitting her when there was no dead Argent girl in the back. She glanced over at Derek. His eyes were trained on the road in front of him, both hands on the wheel. No music played through the radio, it was just dead silence other than the muffled noises of other cars zooming past.

Her phone started to go off again, making her jump a little and shuffle in her seat. She was glad that it was not Lydia calling, like in her dream. While it would have most likely just been a coincidence, it would have freaked her out way too much.

The Empath's neck hurt badly from where she had fallen asleep strangely. She hadn't meant to sleep, but she had been so tired. The last thing she remembered was talking to Derek about how she wasn't going to fall asleep.

"You gonna get that?" Derek cut her from her thoughts.

Humming with a small nod, Harper raised the phone to her ear, "Hello?"

"Hey, where are you?" Scott's voice rang on the other side, "mom told me you texted her last night. Are you still at Derek's?"

"No," the brunette murmured tiredly, "I'm with Derek, yeah, but we're currently in his car on a motorway."

There was a long pause, "um, why?"

"We're gonna find Harry," Harper explained, "warn him about the dead pool. Actually, speaking of the dead pool, some girl tried strangling me to death on the way home last night."

"What?" Scott gaped, "did you see who it was?"

She shook her head, "it was too dark. I just know that she had dark hair and I think there was a boy with her. Maybe her boyfriend or brother, I don't know."

"Great," the werewolf muttered sarcastically, "so more people are getting a hold of the dead pool?"

"Looks like it," Harper sighed, "has Lydia cracked any more of the cypher keys yet?"

"No, she's been at the lake house since the party last night trying to work it out though," Scott replied, "Stiles is coming over later to tell me about some possible theories he's come up with overnight. Do you want me to tell him where you are, or let him work it out himself when he finds your empty room?"

Groaning, Harper replied, "just tell him that I'm doing some detective work of my own and he doesn't need to worry. I'll be back soon."

Scott sighed, "he's gonna worry, Harps. Just like how I'm worried. You better stay safe and tell Derek if anyone hurts you, he's the one that'll be paying for it."

"Heard that," Derek called so Scott could hear.

Harper released a sleepy chuckle, "anyway. I better go, we're about to go under a tunnel."

"Right," Scott muttered, "I'll see you soon. Love you, Verum."

"Love you too, McCall."

...

GLEN CAPRI WAS just as awful as Harper had remembered it. It seemed that the image she had burned in her brain of the dreary motel was barely a fraction off of what it really was- maybe even worse. As Derek parked his sleek, black car into the parking lot, Harper unbuckled her seatbelt impatiently.

"This is it?" Derek huffed as he turned the engine off, "why would anyone wanna come here?"

"People who have nowhere else to go," whispered the brunette, "people like Harry and people like the couple of hundred that have killed themselves here."

"How do you know that?"

"It's a long story," Harper muttered, "you're actually dead for most it."

Cocking his head to the side slightly, the werewolf blinked in confusion. Instead of answering his unimportant question, Harper sighed and opened the door, slipping out. The cold afternoon air hit her, making her shiver slightly. Her Empath senses were going through the roof, just like they had when she was here last time.

Harper could feel all of the anguish and pain, all of the panic and fear. It was a sensation that she wished upon nobody, it was cold and bleak and hopeless.

Derek appeared beside her a few seconds later.

"How do we approach this?" Harper asked, "ask the motel staff? They'll probably just give us the same answer they gave us on the phone."

"We use your Empathic abilities," Derek rolled his eyes, "you're gonna have to use the mist, Harper."

Nodding, Harper closed her eyes and thought about her half brother. She remembered the letters he had sent her, how happy he had been when she had found him, how he taught her how to control her abilities better, when he gave her the ring... when he sent her to Eichen House.

"Hey," Derek snapped, pulling her out of her thoughts, "calm down."

Harper realised what he was talking about when she realised her palms were stinging in a sickening way. Pulling her fingers away, she noticed her nails had started to dig into the flesh, creating small crescent-like markings the colour of blood. The liquid itself bubbled to the surface.

Looking past her sightly injured body part, Harper's heart skipped a beat when she saw the brown mist. She didn't know what brown meant, but she followed it anyway. Derek said nothing else but traced her steps, slightly fascinated that she could see something he couldn't.

Up the stairs and to the left- the mist lead her to door 216.

Taking a shaky breath, Harper wrapped the doorknob with her hand and twisted it.

"Locked," she muttered to Derek, disheartened.

The werewolf huffed, "move."

Obeying him, she watched as Derek backed up a little before ramming his shoulder against it. Unlike Stiles, who had taken many attempts at this method, Derek managed to get the door open in one go. The smell of paint and bleach hit Harper's nostrils, causing her nose to scrunch up.

"He's not here," Derek said as he walked into the room further, Harper following.

"Once the mist lead me to Malia's coyote den," Harper noted, "maybe it wasn't leading me directly to him, but something of his."

Nodding, the dark-haired man went into the bathroom where they were clearly refurnishing. Harper remembered the bibles that Lydia had discovered last time and moved to the little table next to one of the beds. She grabbed the thick book and shook it over the mattress, four separate slips of paper floating down to the blanket.

Harper flipped them the right way around, finding that sure enough, they were articles about the suicides for this room. However, not a single one correlated with anything to do with her brother. Sighing, she began to put them back into the book.

"Harper," Derek called hesitantly.

Dropping the bible onto the bed, Harper moved to the bathroom, her nose scrunching at the strong smell of bleach. She saw the look in Derek's eyes and knew he knew something. He radiated guilt and dread.

"What is it?" She swallowed, "he was here, wasn't he?"

Derek nodded but didn't say anything else.

"Derek," Harper snapped, feeling herself become frustrated as the worry increased in the pit of her stomach, "what happened? What do you know?"

"There's a smell."

"Other than the bleach?" The brunette folded her arms across her chest, her face falling as she realised, "blood?"

She remembered how Scott had been able to smell the blood of Laura Hale well over a year ago now, how he had told her and Stiles and they had dug up Derek's poor sister from the ground. Werewolves could smell things humans didn't even know carried scents- like disease or emotions.

Derek's pursed lips told her that her assumption was correct. Harper's heart plummeted in her chest, her eyes casting to the ground so that Derek didn't see the way they had lost all brightness. Although, she was pretty sure he could smell her sadness like she had thought from before.

No words were exchanged between the pair as the older werewolf took one step forward, wrapping his strong arms around Harper's petite frame. The gesture shocked her for a split second, but she found herself hugging him back, her head on her chest as she released a shaky sigh, her whole body shaking slightly.

They remained as one for another minute or so before Harper pulled away, running a hand through her hair. No tears fell from her brown eyes, but a solemn feeling had possessed her body. She just wanted to bury herself in her covers and mourn in silence. Harry was dead. No, not dead- murdered. He had been murdered by an assassin.

"Are you okay?" Derek asked softly, noticing how uncharacteristically quiet the teenage girl was being.

In the year and a bit that Derek had known Harper, he had always made the assumption that she was the optimist of the group. From the day he had met Scott, Harper and Stiles in the woods, he had sensed how much she cared about her best friends, how friendly she was from her tone, how unjudging she was by her eyes. Of course, he wasn't expecting her to be smiling right now- he just felt strange seeing her so vulnerable- in a position only a few people had ever seen Harper in.

"What do you think?" Harper muttered under her breath.

"I know how you feel," he sat down beside her as she perched on the edge of the bathtub.

When she remained silent, he continued, "you remind me a lot of myself."

"We're complete opposites," objected the brunette sourly.

"Are we?" Derek interjected, "I mean, both our families were killed tragically, and the family that we do have are murdering psychopaths. I know what it's like to feel lonely and like you have nobody. That's why I left Beacon Hills. The only reason that I came back was that my sister had been killed."

Harper's face softened, realising that the werewolf was on to something by saying they were somewhat alike. Now that she thought about it, she also considered Isaac and Malia quite similar. They also had no family and Isaac's father had been an abusive asshole before he was murdered by the Kanima.

"You deserve better, Derek," Harper whispered.

Derek's eyes widened a tiny fraction, surprised at what she had just said. Not many people had much sympathy for him, and if they did then they didn't show it. His tough exterior usually drove people away, but here sat Harper Verum with him in a motel in the middle of nowhere, telling him the words that he hadn't believed since Paige.

His shock died down and the corner of his mouth tugged up into a smile.

"You deserve better, too, Harper."


	12. Chapter 12

DEREK AND HARPER didn't arrive back in Beacon Hills until four in the morning that Monday. To say that the brunette was tired would be an understatement, yet she still didn't plan on going back home. Derek dropped her off at Stiles' house before driving away, leaving her stood out in the freezing cold. That was enough to wake her up a little.

Instead of knocking the front door and disturbing the two men inside, Harper moved to the tree beside Stiles' window- the same one she had climbed up multiple times before. The breeze blew her hair back as she got level with the window, leaning forwards and looking through.

Just as she expected, Stiles was lying in the centre of his bed, his duvet up to his waist with his phone on his chest. His mouth hung open and one arm was flung above his head. It looked like he had passed out while doing something.

Grunting, Harper dug her fingers underneath the window and slid it up, thankful her boyfriend hadn't locked it. It creaked a little, making her momentarily pause. The wince present on her face subsided as she got the window up the rest of the way with no hassle.

The brunette leaned inside, going arms first as always. She never trusted herself to go legs first- she was always scared that she would fall from the tree. Her weight caused a small thump, making the snores coming from Stiles stop. His eyes fluttered open before widening, surprised to see Harper climbing up off of his floor.

He sat up tiredly, rubbing his eyes, "babe?"

Harper sent him a small smile, "sorry for waking you," she whispered, shrugging off the denim jacket that she was wearing.

She placed it on the back of Stiles' desk's chair, her eyes catching sight of his evidence board. It seemed like he was actually onto something, as not every piece of string was coloured red. She swallowed thickly upon seeing Harry's picture crossed out in red marker, the words 'assassinated' written underneath.

Stiles noticed her stillness and slipped out of the bed, wrapping his arms around her waist and kissing her collarbone softly. Harper tore her gaze away, a genuine smile taking place as she leaned back, resting on his chest.

"Have you figured anything else out yet?" Harper asked, "I told you that Peter killed The Mute, right?"

Stiles nodded against her, "yeah, and my dad was there. But some girl named Carrie was killed last night- she was a werewolf, we think."

"It's getting worse," Harper chewed down on her lip, "how much are they doing this for?"

"We figured that out too," Stiles pulled out the sheet from his desk- the same one that had all of their names written down, "the numbers beside it. That's how much you're all worth."

"I'm worth thirty thousand?" Harper's brows knitted together.

Stiles shook his head, "million, Harper. You're worth thirty million dollars."

Her breath hitched in her throat, overwhelmed by the new information. She was on the market for a whopping thirty million US dollars. It was difficult to comprehend. Three years ago, Harper thought there was nothing special about her at all- now she was worth this.

"But Scott's a true alpha- he's only twenty-five. He should be more than me, surely," Harper insisted.

"Scott's not endangered," Stiles reminded her, "you're the only one left. Of course you're going to be worth more than him. Killing you would make an entire species of supernatural creature extinct."

"That's great," she breathed sarcastically, "that's amazing."

"The pack- we're all looking out for each other," Stiles promised, "I know Scott wants a close eye on you, especially after what happened the other night with those two kids. Nobody's gonna hurt you again, okay? Not over my dead body."

Harper remained silent for a few seconds, sinking into his touch further. She was so grateful to have Stiles. She had no clue what she would do without him.

"Come and sleep," he proposed. 

It was an offer that Harper couldn't deny. She nodded against him, taking his hand as he lead her back to his double bed. Jumping into the middle, he patted the space beside him. Harper didn't mind that he took up at least three-quarters of the bed due to the fact that he insisted he could only sleep in the middle- it meant she had to be closer to him.

Harper kicked off her shoes and pulled off her jeans, grabbing a shirt from the drawers next to Stiles' bed. She took off her own and shrugged it on, the material far too big for her. Stiles smirked, not-so-secretly loving the way his girlfriend rocked his shirts. He knew she had a few plaid ones at her house, and now he was considering letting her have his Star Wars one- just so he could see it on her more often.

"Wow, Harps," Stiles grinned, "seeing you in that shirt really confirms it."

"Confirms what?" Harper raised her brows, sliding into bed beside him.

He pulled the covers over her so that she was warm.

"That you're the Obi-Wan for me," he snickered, watching as she chuckled and rolled her eyes in amusement.

"You really know how to make a girl swoon, Stiles," she hummed, her head resting on her chest as she wrapped her arms around his torso.

"I only wanna be making you swoon, baby," he teased.

"You're a cheeseball," she reached up and ruffled his hair, "seriously though, we should go to sleep. We have school in a few hours."

"Don't remind me," Stiles groaned, dropping his head back onto the pillow from where he had been watching her reactions, "night, Harps. I love you."

"I love you too, Stiles."

...

"PLEASE STOP HOVERING."

Instead of studying for the upcoming SATs, Malia, Lydia and Harper were cooped up in one of the art classrooms, trying to get the second key for the dead pool. Lydia had been at the lake house all weekend with Malia, Kira and Isaac, trying to listen for the second name, however, it didn't work. Now they were trying to get Lydia to write down whatever came into her head.

Malia shifted away from the strawberry blonde at the request, a small frown on her face. Lydia held a pencil to the paper but didn't press down.

"I'm not hovering, I'm waiting," the werecoyote insisted, "draw something, write something. We need to know who else is on the list."

Harper sighed from where she sat at one of the tables, doodling with a pen that had been lying out. They had been there for ten minutes already. The Empath understood why Malia was growing so agitated, but Harper wanted her to just sit down and let Lydia do her thing- maybe then they would get somewhere.

"You mean, you want to know if you're on the list," Lydia corrected.

"If someone's coming to take my head off, then, yeah, I'd like to know," Malia insisted.

Lydia said nothing but moved her pencil closer to the page. Just as it looked like she was about to write something, Malia breathed hard in anticipation down her neck, making her close her eyes in annoyance.

"Malia," Harper spoke with a warning tone, sensing that Lydia was about to snap her head off, "please, just sit down. You're making her nervous."

Muttering a quick apology, Malia obeyed. Lydia sent the brunette a thankful look before turning back to the blank canvas and taking a deep breath. The strawberry blonde closed her eyes while Malia flicked through some supernatural book. Harper watched Lydia expectantly.

Her pencil touched the paper and then-

"Lydia."

Harper glared at Malia who had caused Lydia to flinch, the graphite smearing the white canvas.

"What?" Lydia snapped, "oh my god, what?"

"Maybe we need help," the werecoyote lifted up the text book, showing an exaggerated image of a banshee.

"From another Banshee?" Harper's eyebrows knitted together.

Lydia sighed, "Meredith."

...

"EICHEN HOUSE SAYS Meredith can't have visitors without permission from a family member," Lydia sighed as she walked down the staircase alongside Harper and Malia.

The shortest of the girls huffed, "doesn't matter to me. I'm never going back there again."

Malia ignored Harper, replying to Lydia instead, "that's not going to be easy, considering the fact that her whole family is dead."

Lydia rolled her eyes, "perfect."

"Okay, maybe we go back to the art room? Or music room?" The werecoyote suggested, causing Lydia to turn and glare.

"I'm not plucking piano strings for two hours," Lydia insisted, "waiting for some supernatural inspiration."

"Fine. What else do banshees do?"

"You think I know?" The strawberry blonde scoffed, "I can't just turn this on. I'm not like you guys. I don't have claws, or glowing eyes, or super senses. I just have voices in my head."

Her final sentence came out louder than expected, causing a couple of sophomore guys to turn and stare. Lydia's face fell, her eyes filling with tears. Without another word, she turned on her heel and began to storm off. Malia sighed, turning to look at Harper.

"I'll go," Harper said, rushing after her friend.

She caught up to Lydia as the strawberry blonde went into the bathroom. Harper swung open the door, finding her leaning against the sinks, her eyes closed. A tear fell, going straight down the drain. Harper sighed and moved forwards, gently placing her hand on Lydia's wrist and forcing her to turn.

Lydia looked at Harper and wiped the tears under her eyes, exhaling shakily.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, "I didn't mean to get so emotional."

"Even if you didn't express it, I could already feel it, Lyds," Harper reminded the other teenage girl, stroking her hand as a comforting gesture.

Harper knew how Lydia felt. With no claws or fangs, she often felt useless too. Plus, without the ring on her finger, she could barely control what she did and didn't feel.

"You've only been a banshee for a while," Harper murmured, "I promise that you're gonna get the hang of this- just like you do with everything."

"Not everything," Lydia sniffled, pulling her wrist away, "not everything works out for me."

Harper chewed down on her bottom lip, "is something else bothering you?"

A pause followed, creating thick tension. The brunette stared at Lydia, her eyes soft as she pleaded for her to tell her the truth. Lydia's eyes shifted from the ground up to Harper. Her lips parted, her eyes going a little teary again.

"I like someone," she whispered, making Harper's heart drop, "a lot."

Harper swallowed, knowing that somebody was her. She couldn't give Lydia hope- that would be leading her on. However, she also couldn't just leave the banshee wallowing in her own self pity. She cared too much.

"I-" Harper began, "um."

Lydia just sighed, turning back away from her to look in the mirror. Her green eyes were a little bit red from all of the crying. She made eye contact with Harper through their reflection.

"You already know, don't you?" Lydia gulped, dread filling her, "who told you?"

Harper's shoulders fell in defeat, "nobody. I- I felt it."

More silence followed.

"I don't want this to ruin us," Harper whispered, her voice breaking a little, "Lydia, I care about you way too much for this to break us."

"I didn't say anything because of Stiles," Lydia spoke solemnly, "I know how much you love him. Too much to even consider an us."

It felt like Harper's body was on fire. She didn't want to say the wrong thing- it could ruin their friendship. Harper loved Lydia like the sister she had never had, so breaking her heart was the last thing she wanted to do.

"How long?" She asked quietly.

"When- when Void took you," Lydia admitted quietly, tucking some hair out of her face, "I thought I was never going to see you again. I was crying to- to Allison. She asked if I liked you more than a friend and I told her no. But I thought about it every second you were gone and- and she was right. I think I've liked you since you kissed me at the party."

Harper gave a short nod, trying to think of something else to say.

"I know what you're going to say," Lydia cut into her thoughts, "you love me as a friend, Stiles is the love of your life, blah, blah, blah."

"Lydia, I don't know what to do," Harper whispered, tears filling her eyes upon seeing how broken her friend looked, "I wish I could do something to make you feel better."

"I'm not telling you this to make you feel guilty," Lydia muttered, "but, do you think- do you think you could ever be with me?"

"You know I can't answer that," Harper said immediately.

Lydia closed her eyes, nodding, "I know, I know."

"Lyd-"

The strawberry blonde shook her head, pushing herself off of the wall she had been leaning against. She grabbed her bag off of the sinks and flung it over her shoulder.

"I know," she repeated louder, sterner.

The door closed behind her as she stormed out, leaving Harper alone and extremely conflicted.

...


	13. Chapter 13

"YOU'RE ALL IDIOTS for this," Harper huffed for the millionth time that night, chucking herself down on the bench in between Stiles and Kira, who was now a part of the lacrosse team.

The air was freezing as they watched Devenford Prep and their own team stretch out of the field, laughing and joking around on their separate sides. Harper's friends were all geared up in their burgundy uniform, waiting anxiously for the game to start.

"We have a plan," Scott declared firmly, ignoring his best friend who was definitely not being as optimistic as usual.

"Oh, yeah?" Harper leaned past Kira to cock her head at Scott sarcastically, "and what's that?"

Scott tore his gaze from her, sucking on his bottom lip before replying halfheartedly, "to survive?"

"Genius," Isaac muttered, not a fan of the plan either.

Stiles placed his hand down on Harper's thigh, squeezing it to stop it from bouncing up and down so much. Harper sighed, trying to release some of the stress she was experiencing. It was a mixture of her own and her friends', making it hard to contain. Being an Empath sucked.

To be honest, Harper was terrified of her losing her best friends tonight. While she had been busy with Malia and Lydia- who wasn't answering any of her phone calls now- Stiles, Isaac, Scott and Kira had worked out that one of the assassins was Garrett- a boy in Beacon Hills lacrosse team.

They had realised that he was probably going to try something tonight, but Scott had decided that they were still going to go through with it. Stiles thought it was stupid too, but apparently, Scott and Kira had pulled a whole 'we're not scared of anything' kind of thing, choosing to go ahead with the game.

Scott got up when he noticed Coach on the sidelines, jogging over to try and get him to pull Liam out of the game. It ended with Coach laughing in the werewolf's face, clearly indicating that Scott was not going to get his way. Liam was going to play.

A whistle blew, Kira, Isaac and Stiles standing up on either side of Harper. The brunette also stood up, handing Stiles his helmet which had been by their feet. He accepted it with a small smile, leaning down and pecking her forehead.

"Be safe," she looked him in the eye, much like a concerned mother would.

"I'm not even on the dead pool," he reminded her, "I'll be fine."

"I don't care," Harper murmured, gripping his lacrosse jersey and pulling him down so that their lips met for a quick peck, "please, just stay away from Garrett and- and have fun."

Stiles smiled at her, "promise to cheer me on?"

Harper pulled out her pinkie, linking it with his eyes, "pinkie promise. Now, go on, Stilinski."

With a blissful grin on his face, it was as if any threats of the supernatural had vanished from Stiles mind. He turned around and began to jog out onto the field, ignoring Coach who was telling him to 'get a move on, rather than make out with his girlfriend in the corner'.

Harper moved up onto the stands, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm herself up. She exhaled, icy wisps dancing in the air. She just prayed that her friends would be okay.

The whistle blew for the second time- indicating the start of the game.

It started off pretty badly, to say the least. As soon as it started, Devenford Prep had managed to snatch the ball from Liam, sending him straight to the ground with a loud thump. They threw it to the goal, getting it straight in. Liam climbed up off of the ground, his stance clearly portraying anger.

Harper watched anxiously as he ripped off his helmet, throwing it on the grass. He glared at the two guys that had been ganging up on him, tearing his gloves off next. Scott and Isaac were there in a second, pulling him back to stop him from attacking them.

As soon as Liam had calmed back down, the game started again. Stiles grabbed the ball, making Harper stand up and cheer for him. He threw it to Kira, who caught it with a proud smile. She weaved in and out of all of the boys much taller than her, cradling the ball in the net.

"Pass it!" Coach Finnstock yelled, "Kira, pass the ball!"

Ignoring the teacher, Kira did some sort of twirl and threw it as hard as she could- the ball hitting straight into the back of the goal. Harper stood up to cheer alongside the rest of Beacon Hills' students, glad that they had made their first goal.

"Yukimura!" Coach yelled, his angry tone a contrast to the rest of the scene, "get over here!"

Kira ran over, beaming as she took off her helmet.

"Take a seat, you're benched for the rest of the game," Coach pointed to the bench behind him.

"What? Why?"

"You didn't pass," Finnstock reminded her bluntly.

"I had an open shot!" The Japanese girl claimed.

"The play was for you to pass," he shook his head, "this is a scrimmage. It's about teamwork, Yukimura. So, you're benched."

Kira's shoulders sagged in defeat as she made her way over to the bench. Harper frowned, although she was secretly thankful that one of her friends was off the field. It meat that Garrett couldn't get to her so easily. The brunette jumped up from her seat, moving down the rows until she sat down next to Kira.

She put a hand on her back, "don't worry about it, Kira. Next time you'll know what to do."

Kira sighed but nodded, trying to remain as optimistic as she could. Scott sent her a sympathetic smile before he got distracted by Garrett who was staring at him.

Halfway through the game, as the ball flew up into the air, Scott, Liam and Brett Tabolt- a boy from Devenford Prep- all dove for it, resulting in them colliding and getting sent straight to the floor. Harper winced at the breathlessness she experienced in her chest, watching as Brett rolled around on the grass, crying out in agony. She could tell he had also hurt his leg.

A paramedic and the referee began to pull him away from the crowds of people that had rushed over. Harper began to make her way over, only to see a girl sneak off to the side, looking around as if she didn't want anyone to see her. Harper frowned, realising that the girl was going off in the direction that Brett was in- and she had something in her hand.

Her eyes widened. It looked like it was a garrotte.

Harper looked between her friends who were all deep in discussion and the girl. Bouncing down, she bit her lip, unsure of what to do.

"Urgh," Harper huffed, taking off after the girl.

...

"WHY? WHY ARE you doing this?" She heard Brett cry.

Harper leaned against the wall, trying to work up the courage to go in and do something useful. She pulled out her phone, quickly sending a text to Scott.

TO SCOTT: sos.

She knew that he would be able to smell out where she was, and besides, she had no time to send out an explanation or her location, because the next thing she knew, the girl was kicking Brett in the ribs.

"Because you're worth a lot of money, Brett," she smirked.

Harper heard the sound of her garrotte being tightened and knew she had to do something now. She couldn't wait around for Scott. Diving into the room, Harper quickly jumped onto the girl's back from where she was stood above Brett's body, strangling him with a thermo-cut wire.

The girl cried out as she crashed down to the ground, Harper on top of her. Brett remained unmoving, but whether he was passed out or dead Harper had no clue. She grabbed the assassin's hair, pulling it back as hard as she could and kneeing her in the back.

"I'll kill you!" The girl threatened in a cry, flipping around so that she had a hold of Harper.

Harper grunted, kicking the girl right in the chin from where they were both on the floor. Blood splattered the girl's dark skin, a whimper coming from her lips as she held the garrotte in Harper's direction, trying to press it to her skin.

Whithering away, Harper managed to get back up, rushing to the door. However, the girl slammed her front against the wall beside it, making her cry out. She had hit her chin, probably sporting a similar mark to the girl. Just as the garrotte was about to be slipped over her head, footsteps came rushing in.

Harper's breath hitched as Scott called her name. Quickly, the dark-haired girl spun around and wrapped the wire around Scott's neck.

"He said we shouldn't try," she grinned sadistically, "but now I've got you. I've got an alpha."

Harper wiped the blood off her chin, smirking as Scott wrapped his hands around the heated wire, pulling it off of his neck almost effortlessly. Smoke came from his hands, but he showed no care as he turned to face her, his eyes glowing bright red.

She gaped at him as his hand flicked out, wrapping around her neck. He lifted her from the ground, her feet struggling to get a grip back on the floor. Smacking her head against the wall, he let her fall, clearly knocked straight out.

Stiles came skidding into the room, stopping himself from falling as he held onto the doorframe. Scott took off the thermo-cut wire from around his neck as they looked at the bodies that were surrounding them- Brett, the assassin, the referee and the paramedic.

"I think you need to call your dad," Scott told Stiles.

The Stilinski boy glanced over at her, noticing the blood and slight bruising on her skin. His brows immediately furrowed as he pulled his phone out of his shorts, making his way over.

"Are you okay?" He gently touched it.

Harper winced but nodded, "nothing an ice pack can't fix. Hurry up and call him."

Nodding quickly, Stiles unlocked his phone and clicked his father's contact.

...

STILES AND ISAAC rushed Brett off to Deaton, also known as the only person that knew could help the poor boy. He was okay, he just wasn't waking up. Harper stayed with Scott as the police turned up, a paramedic offering her an icepack for her chin.

She held it to her skin, wincing at how cold it was. Meanwhile, Coach guarded the locker room door, yelling at the hustle of boys trying to get through.

"Guys, back off," he warned loudly, "you can get your gear tomorrow. And if anyone sees Garrett, you notify the police immediately. Then tell him he's off the damn team."

Harper leaned against the wall a little further away from Scott and his father. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but from the way Raphael was looking at his son in concern, she guessed it was a bit of a heartfelt conversation meaning she shouldn't intrude.

Liam suddenly popped up beside her, looking across at his alpha. He turned to face Harper when he realised Scott was busy, frowning at the ice pack.

"You okay?" He asked.

Harper pulled away from the pack, tapping her chin with her finger, "it's numb from the cold, but it's just a bit bruised."

Liam's brows furrowed, "Violet did that?"

"If that's what her name is," the brunette nodded at the girl getting dragged down the hall by Deputy Parrish himself.

Sheriff Stilinski stopped to talk to Agent McCall, the pair sharing a quick word before following after Parrish and Violet. Liam snuck out from the shadows, Harper right behind him as they met up with Scott.

"Where's Kira?" He looked between them both.

Harper sighed, "she took off."

Liam continued, "Stiles told her about Lydia cracking the second part of the dead pool."

"Her mom's on it," the older werewolf's lips parted in realisation.

"Everyone's on it," Harper nodded.

"Liam's not."

"Not yet," the beta disclaimed, "there's still another third, right?"

Scott looked behind the two shorter teenagers, clearly listening to whatever his father was saying in the next hall. Harper could see Raphael talking to Violet, Sheriff Stilinski and Deputy Parrish watching. Liam looked over too, using his werewolf senses to chime in.

She wished she could hear what they were saying.

"Coach, I'm gonna need their locker numbers," Noah called, referring to Garrett and Violet of course, "and a set of bolt cutters."

...

LIAM STOOD ON guard by the boys' room door while Scott found Garrett's locker. Harper stood behind him, watching nervously as he wrapped his hand around the lock and snapped it in one go. The metal made a clanging noise as it fell out of his hands and onto the bench below.

"Open it," Harper whispered when she noticed his hesitation.

Nodding, Scott pulled open the creaky door, looking around. Harper noticed that nothing really looked suspicious, except maybe the duffel bag at the bottom. Although, this was a changing room.

Scott kneeled down, his hand heading towards the zipper.

"I think someone's coming," Liam hissed urgently, "hurry."

Obeying him, Scott rushed to get the bright red bag open. Harper looked over his shoulder, both their hearts stopping at what was inside.

"You find anything?" Liam called, snapping Harper out of her daze.

"No," Scott lied surprisingly calm, much to Harper's confusion, "nothing."

She looked back down into the bag and wondered how many supernatural beings Garrett had already killed to get the hundreds of thousands of dollars he had stashed at the bottom of his locker.


	14. Chapter 14

HARPER FINISHED HER last coat of mascara before popping the lid back on and placing it back in it's respected drawer. Humming a small tune to herself, the girl with the beach waved hair took three long strides over to her bedside table, pulling her phone out of the charger.

She clicked the home screen button about three times, a frown plastering across her face when she realised it wasn't turning on. A battery sketch appeared at the bottom of the blackened screen, indicating it hadn't charged last night. Harper plugged it back in, her eyebrows furrowing even further when it didn't start charging the device.

"Scott?" She called the teenage boy who she knew was in the other room, "can I use your charger? I think mine's broken."

Harper wandered into his room with her phone in her hand, surprised to find the werewolf sat at the end of his bed, a solemn look on his face. Placing her phone down on his set of drawers, she moved over and sat down next to him.

"What's wrong?" She asked softly, feeling the guilt radiate from his body.

"Mom's out of money," Scott muttered, "I can hear her downstairs talking on the phone with the power company. She couldn't afford the bills this month."

An overwhelming sense of guilt settled in the pit of the Empath's stomach, and this time it wasn't coming from the teenage boy sat beside her. It was her own. Harper often felt bad about Melissa spending money on her, even if Harper has been being legally fostered by the woman since last summer. She always felt like a burden when Melissa couldn't afford something, which had been happening a lot lately.

Detecting Harper's guilt, Scott placed his hand down on her knee, making her look up at him.

"It's not your fault," he promised, "mom loves having you around. Both you and Isaac."

"She can't afford us, Scott," Harper ran a hand through her beach waves, knowing she had messed them up a little but not particularly caring, "the money Melissa gets to help foster us isn't enough anymore."

"It's not your fault," Scott repeated for a second time, this time putting emphasis on his words, his eyes stern as he stared into Harper's, "my mom offered to look after you when your parents died, but you said you wanted to stay with Rose. Remember that?"

Harper nodded, a sad smile on her face as she looked down at the carpet, "I love your mom."

Scott offered a small chuckle, "yeah. She's the best."

...

Using Scott's phone, Harper called Stiles and asked when he was picking her up from school, only to be told that they weren't going to school. Apparently, she and Stiles would be going to the police station, and it wasn't to visit Sheriff Stilinski. It turns out that Deputy Parrish was on the supernatural hit list, and so this was their chance to warn him like they couldn't with Harry.

The jeep pulled up into the McCall's driveway. Waving a quick goodbye to Isaac and Scott who were in the kitchen, Harper left through the front door and went around to the passenger's side. Stiles leaned forwards, opening the door for her.

"What a gentleman," she smiled at him, emphasising her articulate accent.

"Only the best for milady," he spoke back, putting on what Harper would describe as a pretty good English accent.

Harper nodded, clearly impressed, "a little stereotypical, but not too shabby, Stilinski."

"Aye," the hazel-eyed boy grinned, holding his hand up for her to high five as he pulled out of the drive, "I'm getting good at it."

"Cause you spend too much time with me."

"No such thing as too much time with you, Harper Verum," Stiles insisted in a mocking way, making her roll her eyes with an amused grin.

Harper sat up further in her seat when Stiles took a left, "wrong way to the Sheriff's station."

Stiles glanced at her, "oh, we're picking up Lydia since she seems to know Parrish a little better than all of us."

"Lydia's coming?" Her voice came out more as a squeak, making Stiles furrow his brows in confusion.

"Yeah..."

The strawberry blonde and the brunette hadn't talked since their last encounter in the girls' bathroom. No matter how many texts Harper sent her best friend, it seemed Lydia didn't want to talk. She had no idea how awkward it was going to be with Stiles and Lydia in the car with her.

They pulled up outside the Martin household, Stiles beeping the horn to indicate his arrival. Seconds later there was a flash of red and Lydia came walking down the front steps, a green shirt and a floral skirt clad on her body. She opened the passenger door, eyes widening when she saw Harper.

"I- I can go in the back," the brunette offered a little awkwardly, shuffling over the seats.

She made sure not to flash them in her denim skirt, throwing herself into the backseat while Lydia sat down where Harper had been. Stiles didn't need to be an Empath to sense the tension between the two girls as he pulled out of the driveway.

"What happened with you two?" He asked casually, not missing how his girlfriend glared at him through the mirror.

Stiles never seemed to know when not to ask questions.

"Nothing," Lydia responded firmly, "nothing happened with us."

...

"THIS IS A hit list?" Jordan Parrish frowned, his eyebrows knitting together as he looked up from the list of names in his hands to the three teenagers standing in front of him.

"We call it a dead pool," Stiles corrected, "recognise any of the names?"

"Yeah, the Sheriff had me run a bunch of these through the system last night," the young deputy nodded, "but we couldn't find any of them."

Sighing, Lydia hesitated before turning the paper in Parrish's hands over, revealing his own name printed at the bottom along with the coding underneath. Parrish stood up from where he had been leaning against the desk, his face falling slightly.

"Okay. That's kind of terrifying," he admitted with a sigh, "what's the number?"

"That's how much people will pay to get you assassinated," Harper hesitated to tell him.

Parrish turned back to face them, offended, "I'm worth five dollars?"

Stiles lifted five fingers and shrugged, "five million."

"I only make forty thousand a year," Parrish scoffed in disbelief, "maybe I should kill myself. I don't get it. Why- why am I on this?"

"Honestly, that might be a question for another day," the Stilinski boy shook his head, "right now there's still another third of the list we have to crack."

Lydia added, "we need the third cipher key, but we need help getting it."

"From who?"

"Meredith."

"The girl from Eichen?" Parrish seemed even more confused now, "the last time you saw her, you almost gave her a nervous breakdown."

He walked over to the door, opening it and looking at the teenagers.

"Almost," Lydia emphasised.

...

SINCE MEREDITH WASN'T allowed to leave Eichen House, it meant that they were going to have to go inside, except that wasn't an option for Harper. Stiles had taken one look at his girlfriend and refused to let her even wait outside, claiming it wasn't safe. Harper agreed wholeheartedly- she never wanted to go back there, not even with a Deputy by her side.

Stiles dropped Harper off back at her house and she found that Scott and Isaac weren't home, despite it being dark out. Melissa wasn't back yet either, but she had left a note on the fridge saying that there was leftover pizza inside. Harper didn't eat anything though, she was too nervous about her friends that were in the mental institution.

The Empath ended up falling asleep on the couch, Archie resting on her stomach. Her mouth was hung open slightly, small snores escaping her pink lips. No dreams plagued her sleep tonight, nothing about Allison. A nudge to her side woke her abruptly.

"Hello?" She sat up straight away, blinking to find Stiles and Lydia stood in front of her, "how did it go? Did Meredith give you anything?"

Stiles sighed as he shook his head, "nothing. She said she couldn't because the Benefactor didn't want her helping us anymore."

Harper's eyebrows knitted together, "who is the Benefactor?"

Lydia huffed, "she wouldn't tell us that either."

There was a small pause as Harper chewed on her lip, thinking about the name and who it could be. She didn't know anybody that wanted the supernatural dead other than hunters, but she wasn't sure why they would put out a hit list if they wanted to be doing all of the killings for themselves.

"So someone is calling themselves a benefactor and going around giving people money for killing off the supernatural beings in Beacon Hills, and Meredith knows who it is, but she won't tell us because this person doesn't want to be known and somehow knows that we go to Meredith for help," Harper summarised out loud, although it didn't help with her jumbled thoughts.

Stiles' eyes squinted as he tried to process what she had said before nodding, "sounds about right... Can you get your laptop?"

...

"OKAY, WELL, WE know one thing," Stiles said as he paced around Harper's room, "both of the first two keys, Allison and Aiden, they're both names of the dead, right?"

Lydia huffed from where she was sat at Harper's desk, the brunette's laptop set out in front of her. Harper was on her own bed, her legs crossed as she tried to think outside of the box. So far, nothing they had come up with for the third cipher key had been correct.

"Yeah, but we tried everyone's names, nothing's working," Harper muttered, "we didn't miss anyone, right?"

The brunette would have felt guilty if they forgot anyone, but with so many people dying in Beacon Hills lately, it wasn't hard to lose track.

Lydia nodded in agreement, "yeah, we've tried every one."

There was a long silence as nobody knew what to say next. Harper groaned and flopped back onto her bed, staring up at the ceiling at all of the stars that she had painted on, as a tribute to her grandmother. She wondered if Rose had known about the supernatural.

Harper guessed that she must have, after all, Harper's mother was an Empath. Rose probably never said anything because she thought Harper still had until she was eighteen years old to worry about it. However, it was at the tender age of sixteen that Harper had been forced to develop her powers early. She wished she had told her grandma.

"If it's not someone who's dead maybe it's someone who's alive," Harper suggested half heartedly, not even taking her own suggestion that seriously.

Stiles' eyes widened and he paused, staring straight at his girlfriend as if she was some sort of genius.

"Harper, you're right," he gasped, turning to Lydia, "banshee's predict death, right? Like Harper said, what if the next person isn't dead... but they're about to die?"

Lydia pursed her lips together, considering the idea with a small nod. She closed her eyes as Harper and Stiles moved around the back of her, waiting for her to type something. Her fingers hovered over the keys and she slowly began to type.

D E R E K.

Harper's heart clenched at the name. For the sake of the werewolf she grown quite close to other the weekend, she prayed that Lydia was wrong. She shared a worried glance with Stiles as Lydia clicked enter. Name after name began to pop up on the screen, alongside the money they were worth.

Halfway down, Harper noticed some of her friends' names.

MALIA HALE 4

LIAM DUNBAR 3

MEREDITH WALKER 1

"Call Parrish," Lydia ordered, panicked, "we need to call Parrish."

...

LYDIA HUNG UP the phone with Parrish, a dazed look on her face. Harper stared at her worriedly, taking a step closer to the girl who looked as though she was about to breakdown.

"Lydia?" Stiles frowned cautiously, "what did he say?"

"Meredith killed herself," the strawberry blonde whispered, her bottom lip trembling.

Setting aside the awkwardness, Harper sighed and wrapped her arms around her best friend. She felt Lydia hug her back, a tear or two falling from her eyes onto Harper's shirt. Lydia squeezed Harper, no longer feeling resentment towards the girl for not returning her feelings.

After all, Lydia knew it wasn't Harper's fault. She'd known it all along, it just hurt too much to look at her and know that she would only ever like Lydia as a friend and nothing more. But as Harper hugged her, pushing in positive emotions using her Empathic abilities, Lydia remembered how much she needed her, whether that was romantically or what Harper was offering- platonically.

...

"YOU COUNTED IT yet?" Stiles asked as he, Harper, Scott and Isaac sat around the red bag filled to the brim with stacks of money.

Scott shook his head, "no."

"I'll do it," Isaac offered, some eagerness slipping through in his tone.

As soon as Scott and Harper had come home with the bag last night, Isaac had been begging to look inside. When Scott had finally shown him, he wanted to know how much it was. Honestly, Harper was a little curious too. There was enough money in there to fix all of the pack's problems combined.

Harper took one end and Scott took the other as they flipped the back over, letting all of the money fall out. None of the teenagers had ever seen any amount of money close to what was currently laying on Scott's floor. A clear cassette fell out with it, causing Stiles to look up at Scott and Harper nervously.

"Flip it," Stiles instructed.

Harper turned it over, finding 'play me' written on the back.

"Harper, you got something to play it on?" Isaac asked, taking it from her as he inspected it.

The brunette shook her head, "no, nothing for cassettes."

He'd made fun of her record player many times before which was probably why he was asking.

"My mum might have something," Scott grunted as he stood up, going off to a spare room.

A couple of minutes later he came back with a cassette boombox, setting it down in front of the four teenagers. Isaac sighed, handing it over to Scott.

"Let's see what this thing has to say."

...


	15. Chapter 15

"After entering the IP address, you will be connected through a Darknet portal to an untraceable bank. Once logged in, enter your account number to receive wire transfers. The IP address will deactivate with each transfer. You will be assigned a new IP address if you choose to continue down the list. Remember, visual confirmation is always required for payment."

Shuddering, Harper leaned forward and pressed the 'stop' button on Melissa's old radio. The audio switched off, leaving the four teenagers in thoughtful silence. Rain pattered down on the window outside Scott's bedroom before Stiles spoke up.

"Any of you ever made a wire transfer?" He asked.

"Never had enough money," Scott replied while both Harper and Isaac shook their heads.

"So I'm not the only one that didn't understand a word of that?" Isaac scoffed, looking between his small group of friends.

"I don't understand any of this," the alpha agreed, "why would someone use all of this money just to kill us?"

Stiles sighed, "someone wants you three dead, dude. Badly."

It was as if something had switched in Scott's brain and he started to frantically place the stacks of money back into the red Nike sports bag. The Stilinski boy immediately frowned.

"Hey, woah, buddy, what are you doing?"

"It's late," Scott huffed, not quitting his actions, "we've got the PSATs in the morning."

"No, I meant the money," Stiles pointed at the bag, "the five-hundred-thousand dollars. You know how much money that is?"

"It's five-hundred-thou-"

"It's half a million dollars, Scott," Stiles cut him off, "what are you gonna do with it? You just gonna slide it under your mattress?"

"I have to talk to Derek. The money's his."

Isaac rolled his eyes, "you mean his and Peter's."

"So?" Harper furrowed her brows innocently, "you two don't think we should tell Derek about his missing money?"

"No," her boyfriend huffed, "no."

He climbed up off of the wooden floor, turning his back to the group as he stared out of the window, thinking deeply. Harper watched his back with a small frown on his face, waiting for what he had to say next.

"No, of course we have to tell him," Stiles eventually sighed, "I'm just... I'm just saying, some of that money is Peter's, right?"

"Right..." Harper nodded hesitantly.

"Peter," Stiles turned around, emphasising his name with venom, "homicidal killer? Remember? You want to give half a million dollars to him."

Scott paused, "so we should give Derek his money back... but not Peter?"

"I didn't say that."

"I think you're insinuating it," Isaac crossed his arms across his jumper-clad chest, looking up at the Sheriff's son with approving eyes and raised brows.

Before anybody could put another word in, the sound of footsteps jogging up the wooden stairs filled their ears. Harper's dainty hands quickly grabbed the rest of the money, shoving it as quick as she could into the bag before pushing it messily underneath the bed. Isaac and Scott both jumped to their feet, whirling around to the door as it opened.

Harper glanced up from where she was still laying on her stomach, just having reached as far as she could to hide the money. Malia stood in the doorframe, her hair soaked and her jumper drenched. Her brown eyes cast from the boys standing suspiciously close together down to the petite brunette sprawled out across the floor, an agonisingly fake smile on her face.

"Why are you down there?" The werecoyote asked.

Shrugging, Harper stretched out further, "it's actually really comfy, y'know?"

Stiles tried not to facepalm at his girlfriend's obviousness but thanked the gods that Malia was gullible as she stared a second longer before shrugging back.

"Well, we found Satomi's pack," she referenced to herself and Derek who had skipped school to try and find them in the woods, "but they're dead."

"All of them?" Scott question incredulously.

"All the ones we found."

...

THE PACK STOOD in the queue outside one of the classrooms waiting for their first exam. Other students stood in front and behind them, chattering and doing some last-second revision. Harper could feel the anxiousness pouring off of every single person in the hallway, the emotion beginning to infiltrate her own system.

She leaned against the lockers behind her, attempting to block everything out until Kira spoke up.

"Where's Lydia?" The Japanese girl asked. 

"She took it her freshman year," Stiles replied with a shrug.

To be honest, Harper was kind of thankful that the strawberry blonde wasn't with them right now. Of course, Harper loved her best friend and even though she had spent the evening two nights ago comforting her, things still weren't the same. Lydia was still upset over the whole situation and Harper was still too conscious of her feelings.

Yet another reason being an Empath sucked.

"Does that mean I could have taken it some other time?" Malia questioned, her brows pulling together as she looked between her group of friends. 

Isaac placed a hand on her arm, "Malia, you've studied harder for this than anyone else. You're going to be fine. I promise."

It was true. Harper wished she had had more time to prepare for the exams, but between the dead pool and other supernatural problems, she had had more life-threatening issues going on. All she could do was hope that what she had managed to do was enough.

"Doesn't mean I'm gonna do good!" Protested the werecoyote.

"Well," Stiles corrected.

"'Well' what?" Malia looked at him.

Stiles hesitated, "it's do well, not good."

"Oh god!" She threw her hands into the air.

Harper leaned away from the lockers, placed her hands on Malia's arms and focused on pushing some relaxing energy into her. Her brown eyes tinged purple a little, making Kira, who had never seen it happen before, gape.

"Did you just suck away my anxiety?" Malia asked.

The Empath shrugged, "more like, cancelled it out with some relaxing energy."

"You can do that?" Kira asked.

Harper nodded, recalling the first time she had done it. It was for Erica when they were doing the climbing wall in PE.

"Me next," Isaac blurted.

...

Harper pressed her thumb against the ink pad on the desk at the front of the room before marking her print into her test paper and slipping her phone into a bag Ms Martin was holding out. Taking the next available desk, she placed the exam paper down and started to tap her pencil against her hand silently.

The teacher at the front of the room was unrecognisable to the teenage girl. She'd never once seen him take a class at Beacon Hills, but then again, the high school was lacking staff nowadays due to the number of murders that took place within the building.

"Please do not open the test booklet until you are instructed to do so," sir spoke monotonously, making Stiles immediately stop what he was doing from the desk beside her.

His girlfriend tried not to laugh at his dorky appearance. The teenage boy had a pencil tucked over his ear and one in his mouth, his hazel eyes widening as he closed the paper and looked around, making sure nobody had seen him accidentally break the first rule. His eyes met Harper and he sent her a soft smile before looking down again.

"This test is two hours and ten minutes. There will be two twenty-five minute critical reading sections, two twenty-five minute math sections and an essay writing portion which will last thirty minutes," he continued to explain.

The amount of anxiety pouring off all of the students sat around her was honestly making her start to feel sick. She quit tapping her pencil against her hand, instead, scrunching her palms shut and exhaling silently.

"There are supposed to be two teachers monitoring this exam," he glanced over at Ms Martin.

"I know," the redheaded lady sighed, "it's Coach. He's not exactly punctual. Um, let me just try him again."

She sent a forgiving smile before marching out into the hallway. A couple of minutes she returned with another fake smile, shrugging.

"I can't find him," Ms Martin apologised, "but Mr Yukimura is upstairs grading papers. Do you want me to try him?"

"We have to start," the teacher insisted, "we can ask for his assistance during the first break." He leaned down and pressed a stopwatch on his desk. "You may now open your test booklets and begin."

Only minutes into the exam did the first problem arise. Harper had been answering the questions to the best of her abilities when a girl a few rows behind her fell from her chair, landing straight on the floor. Everybody turned to the source of the noise, eyebrows shooting up.

"Sydney!" Ms Martin gasped, rushing over to help her up, "are you alright?"

"I'm okay," the brown-haired girl chuckled nervously, "I just got kind of dizzy."

Harper watched as Ms Martin pulled her wrist away from her body, revealing dark red marks that made even Sydney's eyes widen.

"How long have you had these?"

"I- I don't know."

"Ms Martin, do I need to stop the test?" The teacher called from the front.

"No, um, it's- it's fine," the red-haired woman shook her head, gently guiding Sydney back down onto her seat before walking to the front of the room, "everybody stay in your seats. I'll be back in a minute."

She grabbed her phone off of the desk and turned to the new teacher, "nobody leaves the room."

Ms Martin left the room once again. Confusion and anxiety were pouring into Harper like there was no tomorrow, her heart beginning to pound and her palms sweating profusely. It felt like she was going to pass out at any second. Glancing down at her ring, she twisted it on her finger, praying for it to start working.

Why was she feeling everything so deeply again?

Isaac, who was sat on the other side of her, glanced over when he noticed the frantic beating of her heart. He saw how pale her usually tan skin was going and the way her bottom lip was starting to tremble. As her eyes started to roll into the back of her head, Isaac dived off his chair, catching her before she hit the floor.

"Harper," Isaac gasped, his hand cupping the back of her head for support.

Her palm clenched into a fist above her chest and she shook her head, her entire body shaking slightly. Stiles' chair screeched back as he abandoned it, no longer caring about the exam on his desk. He moved to the other side of his girlfriend, looking up into Isaac's eyes worriedly.

The teacher moved from behind the desk, starting to come closer just as Ms Martin began to yell from outside, something about people leaving the building. While Kira and Malia rushed with the rest of the class to investigate what was going on, Scott kneeled down by Harper's head, taking her scrunched hand and slowly unravelling it.

"What- what's wrong with her?" Stiles panicked, looking between Isaac and Scott as if they knew the answers.

Harper moved to sit up, swallowing hard and ignoring the slight dizziness she was experiencing.

Scott's veins started to turn black so he quickly retracted his hand before anybody could see. The class began to file back in, just having been yelled at by Ms Martin to go to their seats.

"You're in pain," Scott whispered just as the teacher met them.

"Show me your wrist," he commanded.

The tone of his voice put Harper off. Something was off about his man and she knew it, she just couldn't say exactly what it was. Hesitantly, the brunette pulled her wrist away from her chest, showing it to him.

Nothing was there.

The teacher raised his eyebrows, "so what's the matter then?"

"I pass out when I get nervous," Harper lied quietly, "sorry."

"Do you need a drink of water? The nurse?"

"She'll be fine," Isaac answered for her, watching as the teacher stalked back to behind his desk, "what really happened?" He asked his friend.

Stiles' hand rested on her back as she climbed up from the floor, the boys rising with her. Malia and Kira were there now too, brows furrowed as they waited for what she had to say.

"I'm feeling what everybody else is feeling all at once," Harper groaned, rubbing her aching wrist and looking back at Sydney, "I think she's not the only one, and for some reason, I can't shut it down."

"The ring's not working?" Kira pointed at the jewellery around her finger.

Harper shook her head, "no."


	16. Chapter 16

THANKS TO MS MARTIN, Beacon Hills High was under strict quarantine, put together by the CDC. People in masks and other protective clothing were barricading the doors and setting up rooms for those with the patterns on their wrists, not letting anyone in the building and not letting anybody inside out.

Harper, Stiles, Isaac, Malia and Kira sat around a couple of desks in their exam room, keeping away from the other sick students while Scott put himself right in between them, insisting on asking Ms Martin what was going on. The brunette was just thankful she wasn't being put on a stretcher for almost passing out earlier.

"I bet they think it's smallpox," Isaac muttered from where he sat on one of the desks, Stiles on the one beside him.

Harper, Malia and Kira stood around them all, unintentionally forming a circle that kept everybody else out. It had only really just occurred to Harper that she and her friends no longer associated with anybody outside of the pack and that nobody else even bothered with them. Even Lydia's old popular friends didn't try anymore.

"Not likely," a monotonous voice cut into their conversation.

The pack turned around to find the teacher, whose first name they had learned was Simon, sat behind his desk still, a newspaper in his hand. He lowered it to look at them, a bored look on his face.

"Smallpox was eradicated worldwide in 1979," Simon explained further, "we've only managed to completely eradicate two viruses in history. The other was rinderpest. It killed cows."

Stiles shrugged, "so we should be comforted by that, right?"

"Unless it's something worse."

Pursing his lips, the Stilinski boy nodded and turned back to his friends, shooting them a look as if to say 'that guys a weirdo'. Harper's eyes cast down to Stiles' wrist to find him scratching. She looked back up at him worriedly, but he was looking at Malia who had started to talk.

"Whatever it is, they're taking it pretty seriously," the werecoyote huffed, "there are a lot of cars and trucks out there."

Now Stiles was scratching his chest.

"Your dad's out there," Isaac announced after listening out with his supernatural abilities.

"I should call him," the hazel-eyed boy sighed, climbing off the desk and going over to the basket of phones, searching through the envelopes to find the one that would have his inside.

"Don't bother," Simon muttered, causing him to pause, "they would have shut off any access to all outside communication by now."

"Why?" Harper frowned, not quite trusting this teacher still.

He shrugged, "no cell service, no wifi. No one starting to panic. Looks like we're all just going to have to wait here and see what happens."

...

"IT'S STILL HAPPENING."

The pack had moved down to the boys' locker room, away from all of the teachers and other students. After a woman had been electrocuted from trying to take Kira's blood, they'd decided it was time to go and find Scott. He was with Mr Yukimura, trying to control his shifting, however, his eyes wouldn't stop glowing bright red.

"I can't make them go back," Malia exclaimed, holding up her clawed hands.

"Me either," grunted Isaac, his finger tracing one of his prolonged fangs.

"Obviously the virus is affecting the three of you in a way it won't hit any human being," Mr Yukimura explained.

"You guys have to stay out of sight," Stiles agreed, "we have to quarantine you from the quarantine."

"Where?" Harper asked.

Kira nodded, "what if they get violent? Like on a full moon?"

"We shouldn't stay in here," Scott panted, "not in the locker room."

"A classroom is not going to hold us," the werecoyote protested.

"The basement?" Harper suggested.

"Too many ways out," the alpha shook his head, "we need something secure. Somewhere nobody can find us."

"The vault," Stiles whispered, "the Hale Vault."

"The Hale's always have an escape route," agreed the McCall boy, looking up from where he had been hunched over in an attempt to control himself, "like their house. There has to be another way in."

Mr Yukimura left the locker room, returning with the blueprints for Beacon Hills High within five minutes. Spreading the paper across a desk, Stiles immediately jumped into action, pointing to all of the correct places.

"This is where the school sign is, so the vault's got to be right about there," he informed everybody else, having been there just as Kate Argent ran away with all of Peter's money in the very same place a couple of weeks back.

"I suppose if there's a second entrance, it would probably be accessible from the basement," Kira's father guessed.

"It's probably somewhere in this hallway," Stiles pointed, "first corridor..."

Suddenly, his body collapsed over the desk, causing Harper's heart to skip a beat from the panic. She lurched forward, her hands on his arms as she pulled him back up. The Stilinski boy appeared dazed and Harper could feel why- he was dizzy, just like Sydney had been.

Harper swallowed as she lifted up the sleep of his black jacket, the red rash-like pattern present underneath all of the hairs on his arm. Her fingers traced them and she looked back up at him worriedly.

"Sti, it's happening to you too," she bit her lip, "you're getting sick."

Before Stiles could attempt to reassure Harper, Mr Yukimura cut in, "you all are."

He looked towards his daughter who shook her head, "I don't feel sick."

"I think it's affecting you differently, neurologically," he sighed, "I found your test answers here in a pile with the others."

As Kira inspected her work, Harper leaned across the table, wanting to know what was wrong. Instead of shading in all of the circles as instructed, the Yukimura girl had placed circles outside the spaces without even realising it.

MINUTES LATER, THE pack found themselves down in the basement. Kira's dad had guided them to the steps without getting caught before running off in an attempt to not look suspicious when he and six teenagers went missing. They searched high and low for a way in, looking behind shelves, feeling walls.

"Hey, guys," Stiles called, beckoning them over, "over here."

Isaac helped him move the shelves out of the way, revealing a very familiar pattern indented into the greyed, concrete wall on the other side. Stiles traced it with his fingers.

"Look at the cracks on the wall," he muttered, "it's like the entrance outside, it only opens with claws. Anyone's claws, right?"

Scott, Stiles and Isaac glanced at each other far too long for it not to be suspicious. Luckily for them, Malia remained oblivious to the staring, but Harper knew what it meant. The Hale Vault could only be opened by a Hale, and that was exactly what Malia was: a Hale. Daughter of Peter Hale.

Lydia and Allison had told her during the Nogitsune mess when Harper had told them about her time at Eichen House and initially she was shocked and felt a little betrayed, before she realised that Malia didn't even know. Isaac had been the one to make everybody promise not to tell her, and so far Harper had kept her promise.

"Um, Malia, can you try?" Scott asked awkwardly.

"Why me?"

"We don't have control," Isaac pointed between him and Scott, lifting his hand that was naked from claws.

"Okay, I'll do it," Malia shrugged, "but first, tell me what you've been hiding from me."

Harper remained silent as well as the others. Guilt began to settle in the bottom of her stomach and yet still she didn't confess.

"I know you think you're trying to protect me, but I can handle it," she assured them and then after an agonizingly long silence blurted, "I know I'm on the list."

Kira's shoulders sagged in relief from beside the were coyote, thankful that that was the only thing she'd be finding out about tonight. It appeared that Kira carried even more guilt than Harper when it came to keeping secrets from friends. After all, Kira was closer to Malia than Isaac, and it was Malia she was keeping the secret from.

"Yes..." Stiles nodded.

"So how much?" She cocked her head to the side.

"How much what?"

"How much am I worth?"

"Four million," Isaac responded.

Another silence filled the basement as Malia's eyes softened, casting down to her feet. Harper could sense sadness rolling off of her and assumed that it was because compared to her friends, Malia wasn't worth much on the dead pool.

"Mal," Harper frowned, "are you okay?"

Malia scoffed, "yeah. You're worth thirty, Scott twenty-five, Kira six. They'll take you guys out way before me."

Everybody was slightly astounded by her logic, eyebrows raised as she moved past Scott and Isaac to get to the markings in the wall. She placed her claws inside and twisted, sparks coming from the concrete. The swirls moved in before the wall shifted left, opening up into a whole other room.

It was dark and dreary, matching the Hale aesthetic, with high ceilings and concrete floors. Not a lot was going inside, just shelves filled with supplies and empty floor space.

The pack walked inside, getting ready to wait out the outcome of this mess.

...

ISAAC AND MALIA were sat in the corner, the tall boy with his back against the wall and his legs spread out, Malia's head resting on his lap. He ran his slender fingers through her hair while she closed her eyes, trying to take her mind off of everything. Meanwhile, Scott paced around the room, unable to calm himself down.

The other couple, Stiles and Harper, sat by the doors. Harper's butt was on the ground but she had her legs over his lap, her head rested on his shoulder and his head on top of hers. Their hands were tangled on her lap, the scent of her shampoo invading his nostrils and managing to make him feel the slightest bit better.

"You know, this was where it all started," the Stilinski boy spoke up, lifting his head from off of Harper's, "that's where the money was. Hundred-seventeen-million in bearer bonds."

"How do you even change bearer bonds into cash?" Kira asked as she picked up a random jar off of one of the shelves, inspecting the contents inside with a frown.

"The bank, I guess," Stiles shrugged, "they just let it sit here the whole time collecting dust. You know bearer bonds are basically extinct?"

"Why does it matter?"

"You know how many problems that money could solve?"

"For you?"

"Me, my dad..." Stiles listed, "the Eichen House and MRI bills are crushing him."

Scott spoke up, "mom does this thing. She writes down all the items in our budget, and how much they cost, then she adds it all up and figures out how long we have left until... we lose the house."

Harper sighed guilty and she noticed Isaac's eyes shift to the ground, almost embarrassed. Scott noticed and shook his head.

"How many times do I have to tell you two-"

"Stop denying it, Scott," Isaac shook his head, clenching his jaw, "without Harper and I, you and your mom would be better off. You can't deny that. Nobody can."

Stiles' hand squeezed Harper's when he realised what she must have been thinking. The brunette closed her eyes, a single tear falling down her cheek.

...

"HARPER? HARPER."

A blurry figure came into view, making the brunette blink. Eventually she realised it was the face of her boyfriend as he leaned over her, a worried look on his face. Harper moved her lips to mutter a greeting, only it felt like her body was restricting her from doing so.

As time had passed, she and her friends had gotten sicker. While Isaac and Scott were bleeding from their nails and Malia was barely conscious, Harper was experiencing the physical and mental pain of every single body in the building- not just the basement. It felt like every breath was her last, and to be honest, Stiles was starting to worry that it would be.

"Sti," she managed, her voice barely above a whisper, "I can't..."

Her voice trailed off, much to Stiles' dismay. He began to hush her, stroking her brunette hair out of her face before touching her forehead with the back of his fingers. She was burning up, that was for sure. Sweat stuck to her skin which had paled dramatically.

Ignoring the hands touching her, only making her feel hotter, Harper managed to just about push herself up off of the ground, a small grunt escaping her lips. Stiles then noticed the red marks that were trailing from the collar of her shirt and up her neck. Someone upstairs must have it bad, he realised.

Her hand weakly went to itch it, but her face screwed up in pain before it could even reach it's destination. Stiles grabbed her hand gently, lowering it as she tried to numb the pain by taking deep breaths.

"I have to go for a few, okay?" He murmured, his eyes shining with an emotion Harper couldn't detect- she couldn't really make any of her abilities work right now.

"Where?" Harper grimaced.

"Whatever's happening, it's worse for you guys," Stiles explained softly, "that means it's not just people getting sick, it's another assassin."

Her eyes widened a little at his words.

"B-but you can't go," she urged him, leaning up onto her knees and grabbing his wrists as hard as she could, which still happened to be very weak, "you could get hurt."

Stiles shook his head to himself, knowing that this was the kind of reaction that he would get from her. At first, he had considered leaving her asleep so he could go without protest, however, with the state she was in, Stiles was half worried he'd never see her breathing again. He couldn't let the assassin get their way- he had to do something.

"I have to," he sighed, stroking her hair out of her face, "for you, for Scott. For Kira, Malia and Isaac."

Harper's eyes shined with tears and if her body would of allowed her to, she would have grabbed him and refused to let him go. Deep down she knew Stiles was the only person capable of helping them all, she was just too selfish to let him get hurt.

"Please," she whispered, and just as Stiles thought she was about to beg for him to stay, she sighed, adding, "please be safe."

Nodding, Stiles leaned forwards and kissed her forehead, "pinkie promise."

Harper managed a small chuckle, immediately shuddering afterwards. Stiles stretched out his pinkie, linking it with hers like they had done at the game a few nights ago.

"You gotta kiss me goodbye better than that," she mumbled.

Smiling a little, Stiles' lips collided with Harper's. Her hand held onto the sleeve of his jacket loosely while his cupped the back of her head, supporting her. It only lasted a few seconds before the brunette pulled away, her eyes still closed.

She muttered a barely audible 'I love you', a string of words put together that only Stiles could make out. He understood what she said and smiled sadly once more, kissing the top of her nose and squeezing her hand again.

"I love you too."

And as Harper leaned back, swiping her sweaty hair out of her face, Stiles sent her one last look before climbing off his knees and heading towards the exit. Now he was even more determined to save his friends- to save Harper.

...

WHEN HARPER CAME to, it was because of the faint banging she could feel on the concrete wall behind her. Her ears could make out the noises of her friends freaking out, the four teenagers coughing and saying that they couldn't hear. Behind Harper, on the other side of the wall, she could hear Stiles. He was screaming.

"Mm," she mumbled, "Stiles."

"Scott!" She could hear him yell, "Scotty? In the vault, it's in there with you. It's called reishi mushrooms. Scott!"

The vibrations of hands smacking the wall behind her grew stronger as Stiles continued to yell, "Scott! It's in there with you! In a jar, it's on one of the shelves! Scott!"

Harper could feel his panic. It was one of the most sickening sensations she had ever experienced and she wished that she was with him to do something about it. His screams sounded like his throat was about to be ripped, his hands slamming against the wall in frustration.

"Harper, can you hear me?" He tried, his voice breaking a little, the sides of his fists banging on the wall as he screamed, "Harper! Harps!"

"Stiles," she managed, her head leaning on her side weakly.

She wanted to help him. On the other side, the banging stopped as well as his screaming. Now, she could just hear his muffled cries as he repeated his best friends' names over and over. Scott and Harper. Harper and Scott.

"Scott..." Harper heard Kira, "I saw it on the side..."

Her voice faded. Harper turned around, her hands pressing against the wall as she tried to drag herself up. Faintly she could hear Scott's panting as he did the same thing, using his alpha eyes to make his way over to the shelves.

Harper smacked her hands against the wall, "Stiles," she choked.

The brunette's own name was repeated back to her, this time with more desperation than before. A glass smashed behind her, an odour filling the room. She inhaled loudly, her lungs craving the new air being provided to them.

The doors to the vault slid open and Harper fell through them, on her hands and knees as she coughed, her eyes stinging. Slowly but surely, the feeling of her own body came back to her. No more feeling what every body else was feeling- she was finally becoming herself again.

Hands went to her cheeks, a relieved sigh coming from her boyfriend who was crouched next to her. Scott fell through beside the couple, his muscles aching and weak. Stiles looked over at his other best friend, yet another sigh coming from his thin lips. He grabbed the both of them into a tight hug which they returned, a terrific trio sandwich with Harper right in the middle- as always.

As soon as they had gotten over their small reunion, Scott rushed back in to help Kira. Harper looked at Stiles properly, her eyes widening at the sight of blood staining his pale face.

"What happened?" She whispered fearfully.

"It was Simon," Stiles gulped, "that teacher. He tried to shoot me, but Agent McCall shot him first."

Harper grabbed him into a tighter hug, but they pulled apart when they heard Malia snap something at Isaac. She turned her head, frowning when she saw the heartbroken look on Isaac's face. Malia got up, storming out.

"What happened?" Stiles asked Isaac quickly.

Isaac lifted up the paper that had been in Malia's hand- the dead pool with her real name in it. The one that didn't say Malia Tate but Malia Hale instead. Harper assumed it had been in the pocket of Isaac's jacket which he had placed over her shoulders.

"She found it," he swallowed, blue eyes teary, "Malia knows."


	17. Chapter 17

"WE'RE GONNA NEED to talk to a family member, Mr Stilinski," the doctor sighed, trying to ignore the teenage boy who wouldn't stop pestering him, "where's her foster mother? Melissa McCall?"

Stiles ran a hand through his hair, quickly becoming frustrated with the doctor who wouldn't tell him about his own girlfriend. Tears were already present in his hazel eyes, ready to fall at any moment.

"Goddammit, just tell me!" He seethed, smacking his hands against the wall, "do you see Melissa anywhere around here? Harper's an orphan! She has nobody but me!"

His words were exaggerated, but he needed the information confirmed. Harper didn't have only Stiles, Harper had all of her friends, plus Melissa and Noah. This doctor didn't need to know that though.

Stiles slumped down into one of the seats, hanging his head low, "she's the love of my life. I need to know if she's okay."

He watched as the doctor released a saddened sigh, giving into the teenage boy that he could see himself in. The doctor sat down on the seat next to Stiles, anxiously tapping on his clipboard before saying those two dreaded words:

"I'm sorry."

It was as if the air had been sucked out of his lungs and he was stunned into silence for a few long seconds. The thought of his girlfriend dead— cold and not breathing— was enough to send his heart into a frenzy and the tears to cascade down his cheeks. Stiles stood up and started to pace.

"No," he whispered before shouting, "no! No!"

Stiles released sobs that caused other patients and doctors to look at him from down the hall, sharing sympathetic glances. The teenage boy pulled at his hair, his heart hammering and his throat feeling like it was clogged with emotions.

"What happened?" He gritted his teeth through the years, grabbing the doctor by his jacket, "what the fuck happened to Harper?"

...

Harper laid down on her bed in one of Stiles' flannels and some jeans, anxiously pursing her lips together and drumming her fingers against the mattress. Her brown eyes focused on the stars that she had painted almost a year ago now, thoughts of her grandmother seeming to calm her down a little.

"Are you sure about this, Harper?" Scott hesitated, "I can do it instead."

"You said it yourself," the brunette exhaled loudly, recalling their previous conversations, "the Benefactor needs visual confirmation. They'll definitely come if the highest on the list is dead."

Stiles glanced over at Noshiko who was standing on one side of Harper's bed, his heart fluttering.

"You've done this before, right?" He folded his arms across his chest.

Stiles had been the first one to protest of the plan. The idea of his girlfriend putting her life at risk made him feel sick. If something were to go wrong he would never forgive himself, or his friends, for allowing her to be put in this position. However, no matter how many time he tried to convince her out of it, Harper had set her mind on helping— and she wasn't about to back out now.

"I've seen it done," Mrs Yukimura nodded.

Harper's eyes widened, "seen it?" She gaped at the same time as Stiles blurted, "you've never done it?"

The silence that came from the older woman made him shake his head quickly, his jaw slightly clenched.

"That's it," he huffed, "up. Harper, get up. You're not doing this."

"Mom!" Kira huffed from the other side of Harper, "you're not inspiring confidence."

"Good. This is a terrible idea."

"You heard the lady," Stiles spoke loudly.

"Do you want us to do it without you?" Kira looked towards her mother with insisting eyes.

The Stilinski boy threw his hands into the air and rolled his eyes, frustrated that nobody seemed to be listening to him. He watched as everybody shared nervous glances, Harper's tapping on the bed not halting.

"Put your hand on her chest," instructed Noshiko before looking to Scott, "are you two connected?"

Scott slightly pressed his nails into his hand and Harper hummed, feeling it immediately as her ring was no longer on her finger. Stiles had it in his back pocket, ready to give it back to her as soon as she woke up.

"Yeah," she breathed.

Harper swallowed, moving her hands to her sides as she prepared herself. Kira kneeled on the side of her bed, her hand getting dangerously close to where Harper had opened the plaid shirt for the skin-on-skin contact required.

"Wait!" The Empath gasped, grabbing Kira's wrist before she could touch her.

"Oh thank God," Stiles closed his eyes, relief filling his system.

"What happens when I'm out?" She turned to Noshiko.

Immediately, the Stilinski boy's shoulders tensed again, realising that she wasn't pulling out of the idea. While he admired her for her bravery, he couldn't help but not want her to do it. Every single part of him was getting anxious over it.

"It might feel like you are dreaming," Mrs Yukimura said.

"Like nightmares? Or good?"

"I suppose that depends on you."

Harper blinked, laying back down and taking another deep breath. Scott clamped his hand down on Stiles' shoulder reassuringly.

All he could smell was the fear in the room. Unsurprisingly, most of it was coming from Stiles and not the one sacrificing herself.

"Don't be mad," Harper glanced at her boyfriend as Kira began lowering her hand again, "I love you."

Stiles' eyes softened, "I love you, too."

No more words were exchanged as Kira sent Harper a sorrowful look before placing her hand on her chest. Harper sucked in a breath as electricity began to flow through her veins, the entire room lighting up. Kira gasped, squeezing her eyes shut but not removing her hand.

As Harper released a whimper, her eyes rolling into the back of her head, Stiles copied her at a smaller level by passing out.

...

Stiles pretended to be sniffling as he walked through the double doors and into the morgue. He wiped away the tears that had fallen from his eyes, moving over to where Scott, Melissa, Liam, Kira and Noshiko stood around Harper's body.

He looked down at her, hating how pale she looked. His bottom lip trembled and he had to force himself to look away before he started to actually cry.

"I hate this plan," he grumbled, his voice cracking a little as he added, "she looks dead."

"Give me your hand," Noshiko instructed.

Stiles glanced at Scott who nodded reassuringly. Noshiko took the hazel-eyed boy's hand, guiding it over to the top of Harper's chest. Sheets had been pulled to above her breasts to hide the fact that she was naked underneath. She'd been drained of colour everywhere, even in her lips which were always plump and rosy.

Stiles sucked in a breath when he felt nothing in Harper's chest. It was just cold.

"Wait for it."

He gasped a little when he felt the thud of her heartbeat against his hand, blinking as a tearful smile took place across his face.

"And that's enough to keep her alive?" Melissa asked, also worried about her foster daughter.

"Enough when she's connected to an alpha," Noshiko nodded over to the nurse's son.

Scott gave his mom and Stiles both reassuring looks, "I won't leave her side."

"How long does she have?" Melissa asked.

"Forty-five minutes."

Stiles paused, eyebrows furrowing, "what happens after forty-five minutes? If- if Kira can't bring her back?"

Scott hesitated before replying, "she dies."

...

HARPER GASPED AS she woke abruptly, her back immediately arching from the cool metal beneath her naked skin. Her eyes were wide as she tried to focus in the darkness, looking left, right and up- but she was surrounded. She knew exactly where she was. She was in the morgue.

The brunette managed to tilt her head backwards, gulping when she saw the long, narrow path. Flipping herself onto her front, Harper held the covers close to her naked body, crawling the best she could in the tight space until eventually, she was out.

She burst through the door on the other end, her body falling onto the ground below with a thump. As she looked down, she found herself clad in one of her casual dresses instead of the sheet from before and she quickly realised that this was a dream.

"Hello?" Harper called, looking around the room she was in.

She'd come out of a bathroom cabinet of all places, and just as she was about to climb off of the ground, a body came running into the room at full speed. He whirled around before even noticing the teenage girl on the floor, slamming his body up against the door and locking it as quickly as he possibly could.

The man turned, revealing Harry. Harper sucked in a breath, her eyes a little wide as she watched him pat himself down quick before groaning.

"I lost my knife," he hissed to her as if she had been with him the whole time, "we're screwed, Harper."

"Let me in, Harry," a robotic voice came from the other end.

Harper stood up shakily, realising it was The Mute himself. She watched as Harry ignored the assassin, rushing over to the small bathroom window and cranking it open as far as it would go. Harper could probably squeeze through it if she was more flexible, but definitely not Harry with his broad shoulders.

She looked to her brother, "what's going on?"

Harry scoffed at her, "what do you think? He's here to kill us."

He didn't stop to talk, instead he flung open the cabinets to try and find something to use against The Mute. Harper opened the door that she had come from, finding nothing but cleaning supplies. Her heart stopped as the banging on the bathroom door faded.

"Harry," The Mute droned, "give up Harper and I will let you live."

The older brother glanced down at his little sister, his brows furrowing. Harper swallowed, realising he was considering it. Of course he was- he was the one that had put her in Eichen House to die anyway. She held her finger up at him, her expression stormy.

"Harry, no."

"I'm sorry."

Before Harper could process what was going on, Harry was unlocking the bathroom door and she was being flung to the carpeted ground beneath her. She glanced up, heart pounding as she found The Mute standing above her, his axe in his hand.

"You're dead," she groaned, remembering the blood that had been on Peter.

The Mute typed something onto his arm.

"No. You are."

Harper screamed as the axe came down into her stomach and then-

She was back in the morgue, gasping for breath. Harper's dainty hands reached to bang on the top of the metal, sweat clinging to her forehead from her previous dream. Turning back onto her stomach, she did the same process of crawling and then falling- right back into the bathroom.

Harry was already there this time, cowering in the corner with his head tucked in between his knees. He looked up when he saw her, relief settling in his brown eyes.

"Thank god," the Valack boy sighed, standing up and grabbing her by the wrist.

"No," she protested like a child, staying on the ground as he tried to drag her.

His long fingers pinched at her skin as he pulled, making her cry out and kick at his legs. He pulled the door open, revealing The Mute. Harry's face remained neutral as the axe was sent straight through his chest, causing him to stagger down onto his knees and release Harper.

The Empath gasped, not getting up but kicking her body back as far away from the murderer as she possibly could. If The Mute had a mouth he probably would have smirked, but instead one of his cheeks raised slightly, his beady eyes squinting.

"You'll never win."

The axe came down on her.

...

"COME ON, ARGENT," Stiles muttered anxiously as he paced around the morgue, Scott standing next to Harper's unit as he had promised, "why isn't he picking up the phone?"

The power in the hospital had cut out a while ago, including the cameras that Stiles had set up around the hospital. While Kira and Liam went to investigate on the top roof, Argent had demanded Stiles to go and stay with Scott, which he was doing.

"He's probably busy-" Scott began, only to get cut off by the morgue doors swinging open.

Chris came flying through, his body skidding on the floor before he looked up and yelled, "run!"

Scott moved in front of Stiles who looked too shocked to even move. The doors opened again, revealing the sister of the man. Kate Argent smirked. Chris climbed up, panting while Stiles blocked Harper's locker.

"Get out of the way, Stiles," Kate growled, "I'm taking her body."

"Why? Visual confirmation?" Stiles' eyes were still wide, his lips parted as he moved back further, his hand against the one that Harper was in- just to reassure himself.

Kate smirked, "don't worry, handsome. I'm not the Benefactor."

"Then what do you want with the body?" Chris seethed.

"I wish I could tell you."

Without another word, the hunter dove forward, pressing his gun up into Kate's chin making her grunt. Scott's brows furrowed together in panic, his body moving to help out the father of his deceased lover. Stiles grabbed his best friend's arm, pulling him back.

"You're connected to Harper," Stiles whispered quickly, "you go too far and she'll die."

Scott swallowed and nodded, realising that Stiles was indeed correct. He moved back, nervously watching as Kate's smirk widened.

"I forgot you carried two," the blonde-haired woman scoffed.

"Back off!" Her brother seethed, his face contorted into one of pure anger and disgust.

"You sure you can pull that trigger fast enough?"

"I don't want to."

"You're not going to kill me," Kate muttered.

"And I'm not going to let you take her body!" Chris' voice rose as he shoved the barrel of the gun further into her chin, "so listen to me, Kate. We have a plan."

"And if killing Harper was part of it, you're worse than me."

"He's telling the truth. We're trying to get to The Benefactor," Scott defended.

"If you didn't notice, you're on that list too," Argent cut in, teeth gritted, "and worth more than most."

"That's why I'm here!" Kate's voice began to raise for the first time that night, finally losing her cool exterior.

"Then back off and let us do what we planned!"

There was an unsettling silence as Kate twisted Chris' arm slowly, glancing at the watch on his wrist. The countdown was only just above three minutes, making her face harden.

"Take the Beserkers and go," the hunter breathed shakily, "Kate, please. We have a plan."

...

HARPER WOKE AGAIN. She was sick of reliving the same dream over and over again, each time with the smallest spin on it. Turning around, she slowly began to make her way out of the morgue, leaving her sheet behind completely. There was no point since as she fell out and into the bathroom, she was back in that stupid floral dress of hers. She'd grown to hate it by now.

Harry was already stood there this time, an axe in his hand. Blood was smeared on blade, making her heart lurch. She moved backwards, tensing as she hit something. Turning her head, she almost threw up at the sight of her grandmother's dead body.

"Grandma!" Harper choked, reaching down to caress Rose's bloody face.

She didn't really care that she was drenched in the crimson liquid- this was the closest she'd ever feel to her grandmother again. A stab wound was in her chest, her eyes wide with shock. Just a little further away from her grandma laid Harper's mother, Monica Verum.

A hole was in the centre of her head, but blood smeared her chest where she had been struck by an axe multiple times. To make matters worse, behind them were her dead friends: Allison, Erica, Boyd, and Aiden.

Harper turned back to Harry, eyes wide with tears as she stared at him in horror.

"What is this?"

Her brother sighed, swinging it around before plunging it into his chest. Harry didn't even grunt and his eyes didn't falter.

"You do it to yourself, Harper. It's always your fault."

Harper began to scream bloody murder, her entire body shaking hard as her eyes snapped awake. She expected to find herself back in that stupid morgue unit, except she wasn't. Bright lights blinded her vision from she had been pulled out and this time her friends stood around her, watching her anxiously.

"Oh my god," she breathed, dropping her head back down onto the metal beneath her, taking deep breaths before shakily smiling, "I did it. I didn't die."

Stiles, who looked noticeably the most relieved, nodded with a small grin and bent down, holding her head as he captured her lips in his own. One of Harper's hands held onto the sheet covering her body while the other went to his cheek, keeping him close to her for a moment or two.

"I'm never letting you do that again," he swore under his breath as their lips disconnected, their eyes meeting as their noses brushed together.

"What happened? Did it work?" The brunette asked, holding the sheet tighter to herself as she realised how many people were in the room.

There was a silence as Harper glanced between Stiles and Scott. Nobody answered her question, and before she could say anything else, Liam rushed inside through the double doors, panting.

"Kira, it's your mother."

...

HARPER COLLAPSED DOWN onto her bed, taking a deep breath and running her hands over her face. Despite being dead for most of it, it had been a long day. Not only that, but the hospital had run plenty of tests on her afterwards, determined to find out how exactly she was still alive. After all, she had been declared dead by a team of medics.

"You okay?" Scott asked, dropping down onto the bed next to her.

Stiles was sat on the end, not really liking the idea of leaving his girlfriend tonight. The image of her lying lifeless on a slab in the morgue still infiltrated his mind every now and then. Besides, who knows? Something may go wrong later on.

"Yeah, yeah," Harper dismissed him with a wave of the hand, "just exhausted, that's all."

Her fingers ran over the bruises on her arms from all of the blood that they had taken from her. She recalled how nasty it had felt when the needle pressed into her skin but smiled slightly at the memory of Stiles holding her hand throughout, letting her squeeze it every time she grew particularly nervous.

"How's Kira mum?" The brunette changed topics.

"Flew her to another hospital in a helicopter," Scott shrugged, "Kira's going with her, I think."

Harper nodded, "right."

Her tone sounded like she hadn't processed it properly, although she had. All of her movements appeared forced to the two teenage boys who knew her all too well.

"You seem really out of it," Stiles frowned, reaching forwards and pressing the backs of his fingers against her forehead, "are you sure you're okay?"

"It just feels like a waste," Harper admitted with a small huff, "the Benefactor didn't even show up, Kira's mum got hurt. And for what?"

Scott shook his head, "well, actually, I've been thinking that maybe's it's not such a waste of time."

"What do you mean?" Stiles furrowed his brows.

"I mean, we don't know exactly who the Benefactor is, but we might know a lot more about him now. Nobody got visual confirmation. And think about it- who has the power to know when someone's dead but doesn't need to see the body to know it happened?" Scott explained.

"A banshee."


	18. Chapter 18

STILES OPENED THE door to the Sheriff's office, Lydia and Harper walking in right behind him who were followed by Sheriff Stiliinski himself. While the pack had spent yesterday trying to find the Benefactor using Harper's 'dead' body, Lydia had been at her lake house with her mother and found some pretty crazy stuff herself.

"It's not just that she could still be alive," Stiles continued on his rant, "it's that she would have had to fake her death."

Noah glanced at the strawberry blonde in disbelief, "your grandmother, Lorraine Martin, faked her death?"

"Definitely," Stiles confirmed.

"Maybe," Lydia rolled her eyes.

"More than likely, yes," huffed the Stilinski boy, "is faking your own death really that hard to believe, dad?"

Harper scoffed a little, folding her arms across her chest as she thought about her father. Noah glanced over at her, probably thinking of the exact same thing. After all, when he had found out that Gabriel Valack was actually alive, he was astounded. He had been the one to find Harper's parents' bodies- he couldn't believe they weren't real.

"And I suppose you have a story to back this all up?" Noah sighed, ready to listen.

The Empath nodded, "we think she might be helping the Benefactor if she is actually still alive."

"Or is the Benefactor," Stiles added.

"Sounds like a story worth hearing," the Sheriff nodded, tilting his head to the side as he moved over to the door, closing it in order to keep his fellow deputies out.

"Maybe Parrish should hear this too," Lydia sighed, giving Stiles' dad a pointed look, "he knows about the hit list, two policemen are better than one."

Noah nodded in agreement, sticking his head out of the door as he called, "has anyone seen Parrish? Haige?"

The Deputy in question glanced up from his computer screen, shaking his head, "nope."

The Sheriff reentered his office, shaking his head. Lydia huffed, folding her arms across her chest. Before any of the three teenagers could start explaining the theory that they had come up with on the car ride over, two loud gunshots came from the room over.

Harper's heart clenched, her hands immediately balling up as she let out a small shriek. Stiles quickly reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders, pulling her down to the ground with him, his arm tucking her head into his chest protectively. Lydia was by them in a second, a scream coming from her lips as Noah dived out of the room, shooting his own gun.

"Stiles, your dad," Harper gasped when she saw that Noah was on the floor, clutching his shoulder. She felt it too, but it was like a dull ache.

Stiles squeezed his girlfriend before releasing her, knowing she was safe by the desk. Lydia remained next to her, watching with wide eyes as Stiles crouched down by his dad, placing his hand over the bullet wound.

Noah couldn't focus on the pain in his shoulder, he was too captivated by the scene occurring in front of him. Parrish stood, beating the hell out of Deputy Haige, his body stark naked but turned charcoal-black from ash and burns.

...

STILES' DAD WAS rushed to the hospital while Lydia took Parrish to Derek's loft in the hopes of the werewolf knowing what he was. Apparently, Haige had poured gasoline over the poor man and set him on fire- yet he had still survived with no pain whatsoever. Harper thought it was a miracle, but she didn't really have any time to dwell on it- she was more worried about Noah Stilinski.

Stiles was in the hospital room with his dad, meanwhile, Harper was at the vending machine, using the few dollars she had on her to buy Stiles his favourite- Reeces. She grabbed the orange packaging and went back, finding Stiles outside of the room, his large hands swiping under his eyes where tears were falling.

"Stiles," Harper gasped, moving to his side quickly, her hand on his arm, "what's wrong? Is Noah okay?"

Stiles nodded swiftly, sniffling, "yeah, yeah, he's fine. Just... I'm just worried about him, you know? The bills are already crushing him, and now this."

The brunette couldn't offer any financial advice, of course, and so she leaned up on her tippy toes, wrapping her arms around his neck. Stiles' strong arms went around her waist, his head burying into her shoulder as she squeezed him tight.

"Everything will work out," she murmured, her voice even softer than usual, "if I could do something to help, I would."

"I know," Stiles mumbled back, "and that's why I love you so much."

Harper beamed slightly, pulling away from him and holding out the chocolate that had been in her hands the whole time. His hazel eyes widened a little, making her chuckle in amusement. She placed the packet in his hand, watching as he ripped it open immediately.

"And suddenly I love you a lot more."

The pair ended up staying in the hospital for a little while longer, but with Noah knocked out from the morphine, they had no real use of being there. Stiles drove her back to her house before going to his own. He didn't want to be alone tonight and promised to come by later, but he needed to go and get his dad some clothes for the morning.

Harper went up the stairs, groaning as she flopped onto her bed maybe a little too hard. Despite how comfy her mattress was, she had probably been a little too forceful against it. Somebody cleared their throat from her desk, making her jump back up with a yelp.

"Lydia," Harper gasped, before becoming awkward, "what are you doing here?"

The strawberry blonde stood up, "Isaac let me in. I need your help with trying to crack the third cypher key."

Nodding, Harper grabbed her laptop and moved it onto her lap, Lydia coming over to sit down next to her on the bed.

"Where do we start?"

...

QUICKLY, THE AWKWARD tension between the two teenage girls seemed to simmer down as they became concentrated on the task at hand. Lydia had shifted the laptop onto her lap instead, as the banshee of course, while Harper leaned over, thinking with furrowed brows.

"Why don't you try Maddy?" The brunette referenced Lydia's grandmother's past lover.

Lydia scoffed, "doesn't Maddy sound like a bit of an obvious cipher key?"

"I don't know," Harper shrugged, "last year, Scott's password was 'Allison', and so was his username."

"That's because it's Scott," the strawberry blonde deadpanned, however, typed out Harper's suggestion anyway.

She hit enter on the keyboard, a small pout crossing Harper's face as the laptop beeped back at them, flashing 'error' in the insert box. Lydia tapped her fingernails against the technology, raising her eyebrows as if to say 'I told you so'.

"Okay, try your name. Or your mum's name," she gave another suggestion, "anyone in your family, I don't know."

Lydia obeyed, typing out her own name, her mother's and anybody else that she could think of. Nothing seemed to be working, making Harper roll her eyes and release an exasperated sigh.

"Meredith," she suddenly jumped up, "try her. Your grandma used her, right? Maybe she made Meredith the key."

"Hm," this seemed to be the first suggestion that Lydia actually liked as she typed out the deceased girl's name- her shoulders falling as another 'error' popped up.

The two teenage girls sat in silence. It wasn't the slightest bit awkward, they were just racking their brains for something to help. Just as Lydia was about to suggest that they called Stiles, Harper jumped up a little.

"Maybe you're the only one that can work it out, Lyds," the Empath guessed, speaking as she thought, "you said that the ashes were left for you, and so was the code. Your grandma clearly thought you were special enough to be involved with this."

Lydia nodded along, "she made the code so only I can figure it out. That's why it's so hard."

"Yeah," Harper agreed, "so it must be something to do with you, right? Like... I don't know, did you and your grandma have anything that was 'your thing'?"

"What do you mean?"

Harper peered up at the ceiling above her, or more significantly at the stars painted on them. It was an inside thing she had had with the old woman, something that she had never told anyone before. Rose had always told her that when she passed away, she would be the brightest star in the sky looking down at her.

The banshee next to her glanced up, seeing what she was looking at. Her eyes softened as she looked over at Harper, seeing how hesitant she was to reply.

"Like... my grandma and I always had stars in common," she admitted, "that's why I paint them a lot."

Lydia gently reached out and held Harper's hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

"I know what you mean," her voice was barely above a murmur, "my grandma and I used to read together."

Harper straightened up, nodding eagerly, "what did you read?"

"The Little Mermaid," Lydia reminisced, "we used to read The Little Mermaid."

"Try it."

The strawberry blonde took a deep breath and typed the words, sighing as 'error' popped up yet again. She tried just 'mermaid', yet nothing.

Lydia groaned, "we read it every night! I got so obsessed with it, for three months I wouldn't respond to anything but Ariel. It drove my parents' crazy, but..." she seemed to realise something, "grandma thought it was adorable."

Lydia typed out her past nickname: 'ARIEL', their hearts starting to pound quicker as names began to appear, a feeling of relief hitting Harper. Finally, the two had cracked the last of the dead pool.

"You recognise any of these names?" Harper asked, scanning the list.

"Just my grandmother," Lydia shook her head.

A buzzing noise started coming from the opposite of the room, making Harper glance over. Her printer was flashing, paper coming out of it and flowing onto the carpeted ground below.

"Did you print it?" Harper asked.

"No..."

"Wait, this is the original one," the brunette scanned it, her eyes widening when she saw that names of the deceased had been crossed off, and Derek's name had disappeared.

Lydia was by her side, practically breathing down her neck as she looked at the piece of paper.

"Harper..." she swallowed, "you're not thirty million anymore."

Harper's gaze flickered over to her own name, and she was pretty sure she was about to pass out. It must have happened because she was now the last one left in the entire world, but Lydia was correct. The number next to her name no longer read 30, it said 40.

Harper was now worth forty million dollars.

...


	19. Chapter 19

"WELL, IT'S NOT another dead pool," Parrish sighed as he clicked through all of the names, "more like an already-dead pool."

Lydia frowned, "all of them? All dead?"

The young deputy nodded from where he was sat in front of the computer. "Yeah. And they all died in the same place."

Harper leaned forwards, scanning all of the data over his shoulder. Her dark eyes widened a little at the place of death, although she wasn't completely surprised.

"Eichen House."

After giving Parrish a quick thank you, Lydia gently grabbed Harper's wrist and tugged her out of the room. Harper ran a hand through her hair as they left through the front door, the cold night air immediately hitting their faces. She shivered, her heart beat a little quicker than usual as she glanced over at the strawberry blonde marching next to her.

"Lyds," Harper sighed, "please tell me you're not planning on going to Eichen House."

The silence that Harper received was all the confirmation that she needed. Pausing in her tracks, she ripped her wrist away from Lydia and folded her arms across her chest. Lydia whirled around, releasing an exasperated sigh at the sight of her stubborn best friend.

"My grandmother left me a list of ten suicides, including her own," Lydia reminded her, her tone more on the harsher than softer side, "I need to know why. And there's gotta be someone in there who's willing to take a bribe."

Harper's mind went back to her stay at Eichen House. While she had mostly been stuck with Jeremy out of all of the staff, she knew one orderly in particular who was sneaky. Brunski.

"Please," the brunette bit down on her lip, "at least call Scott or Isaac or someone. Make them go with you."

"They're all at that stupid party," Lydia turned her nose up, "I'm going now. With or without you."

They stared at each other for a few seconds, as if waiting for the other one to break and give in. Lydia's green eyes were hard, almost reminding Harper of before the strawberry blonde had grown to be kind. It reminded her of how Lydia always used to get her way. Including right now.

Her gaze made Harper feel guilty, memories of her rejecting Lydia in the girls' bathroom flooding through her brain. She felt like she owed it to her.

"Lydia..." She breathed, her shoulders sagging in defeat, "we go in, we look at what we need to, and we go straight back out. We don't talk to anyone that's not Brunski, and if anyone asks, my last name isn't Verum- it's McCall. Okay?"

The strawberry blonde reached out and squeezed her hand, her eyes softening significantly. Harper almost thought that Lydia was about to say 'never mind' and call it a night, however, a small smile crossed her face and she nodded swiftly.

"I knew I could count on you, Harps."

...

HARPER CALLED STILES before they entered the building she had been avoiding for the past few months, just to ask him what he was doing. His voice seemed to calm her nerves a little, although he had no idea he was doing so. He just spoke about his dad and how he'd gone across the road for some snacks before asking what she was doing.

Of course, Harper lied and she felt immensely guilty for it. She told him that she was watching a film at home, claiming she had a headache and didn't want to go to the party that the rest of the school were at. What made her feel even worse was that he asked if she wanted him to go over while his dad was asleep and look after her.

Now, Harper and Lydia stood in front of Brunski in his office, staring down at the cruel man who had been listening to music through a cassette player. Harper felt oddly relaxed despite the situation, probably since she had passed the lobby without getting grabbed and almost taken like last time.

"A thousand," he ordered.

Harper spluttered, "a-are you serious? A thousand dollars to use a key for a few minutes?"

"When you get the keys, you make the price," Brunski smirked between the two teenage girls.

"Well, I have five bucks on me and a pack of gum," Harper shrugged.

Brunski said nothing to her but looked over at Lydia. The strawberry blonde pursed her plump lips and hesitated before reaching into the bag over her shoulder. Producing a white and black striped purse, she unzipped it and grabbed all of the money inside, smacking it down on Brunski's desk.

"I have five hundred," she muttered sourly.

The mental asylum worker moved over to his cassette player, taking one out and putting a new one in. Harper's brows furrowed when she saw how much they matched up to the one underneath Scott's bed. Brunski grabbed the money and put it to his nose as a happier tune began to play, sniffing it with a beam.

"Follow me," he grinned, grabbing his keys.

...

BRUNSKI OPENED A door labelled 'RECORDS', quickly flicking a lamp on to dimly light up the dreary room. Dust seemed to coat every surface and it was somewhat hard to see.

"Good?"

Harper looked back at the man and forced a nod, "we know what we're looking for."

He said nothing else but turned around, blocking the door and looking out it for anyone passing by that would see him illegally letting teenagers look through his documents. Lydia pulled the list out of her bag, handing it to Harper.

The brunette looked down at it, her eyes scanning all of the names when she heard Brunski's voice from right behind her and his breath down her neck.

"It was the tapes, wasn't it?" He muttered before Harper felt something come in contact with her shoulder.

Faintly, she heard the sound of Lydia shrieking as Harper's body crumpled to the ground, electricity causing her to shake. The inside of her mouth tasted like blood, her body still quivering as she watched Brunski turn to Lydia, starting up the taser again.

"Your turn, sweetheart."

The brunette watched helplessly as Brunski approached a teary-eyed Lydia, digging the taser into her side. Lydia cried out as she fell, the list swiftly floating down beside her. Harper's lips moved in an attempt to yell out for help, but nothing came out- just a cracked grunt.

Arms grabbed her from behind, pinching her skin painfully as they hauled her up so that she was sat leaning against a pillar in the middle of the room. Lydia was next, again, being forced to sit on the other side. Harper was faintly aware of something going around her wrists behind her back, but she was still trying to regain some strength.

"What are you doing?" Harper croaked as he moved onto Lydia.

"Shut up," Brunski growled.

A few moments later the two girls had been left alone in the room, wrists tied to the pillar behind them as they finally started to regain feeling in their bodies. Harper was crying silently while Lydia screamed for help, her voice breaking. The brunette knew she shouldn't have come to Eichen House- nothing good ever happened here.

"Harper?" Lydia sniffled from the other side, "are you crying?"

Harper moved to wipe her eyes, only to be cut off by the restraints. Instead she shook her head quickly.

"No," she lied, her voice saying otherwise.

"I'm sorry," Lydia began to cry again herself, "I brought you here even though you didn't want to come. I should have just listened to you or came alone. Now we're both going to die. All those suicides- all those suicides were murders."

Harper tried to ignore Lydia's pessimistic words, swallowing, "that's why your grandma left the note for you."

"She predicted her own death," Lydia muttered as the door opened again, "she knew I'd figure it out."

"Once you were able to predict your own," Brunski muttered as he slammed the door behind him.

Harper clenched her jaw and tugged at the ropes keeping her wrists back, practically using her whole body to do so. Of course, it didn't work. Brunski scoffed in amusement, shaking his head before he continued.

"But they weren't murders," he said, carrying a case over to Lydia, "I am not some serial killer like Ted Bundy going around cutting up college girls."

"So, high school girls instead?" Harper bit back, clenching her fists as the Orderly moved around, crouching down beside her.

His face was disgustingly close to hers, making her move back as far as she could. She felt Lydia's hands touch hers and the strawberry blonde's fingers scrambled to at least pinch one of Harper's and hold it there.

"I don't think you understand the level of commitment to my work here, Harper," he seethed, "there are people here who don't simply need treatment. They need release. I helped them- I helped Lorraine."

There was a silence before Lydia whispered, "you killed her."

Brunski turned away from Harper and growled, "I helped her. And now you can help me. Because there is something about it that's always bothered me."

Harper heard him grab the cassette player and a tape, pushing it inside. The brunette swallowed nervously- she had a feeling about what they were about to listen to. It started off with a door slamming before footsteps approached the microphone.

"What are you..." Harper heard the croaky voice of a woman and assumed that it was Lydia's grandmother, "Brunski, what are you doing?"

"Don't worry, Lorraine, it's going to be alright," the man in question could be heard through the tape, "you're just gonna have a little trouble breathing."

Harper could feel her heart racing and practically breaking for the other teenage girl in the room. As Lydia's fingers broke away from Harper's, she could feel the pain and panic coming from her.

"Lydia," Harper turned her head to the side, her voice barely above a whisper, "don't listen to the tape. Block it out, okay? Please, don't listen to it."

When no response came from the green-eyed girl, Harper felt herself begin to panic more herself. She leaned further to her best friend, tears beginning to fall down her face.

"Please, Lydia," she tried to comfort, her voice a little louder now, "Lydia? Lydia talk to me."

Heavy breathing came from the other side of the tape and the Empath grunted, throwing herself away from the pillar to try and get the restraints loosened. It didn't work and the heavy breathing continued while Lydia just sat there and listened. It reminded Harper of her last moments with Rose, her heart physically hurting at the thought of Lydia experiencing something similar.

"Hey," Harper found herself yelling before she could stop herself, "turn the bloody thing off!"

A low growl came from Brunski as he shook his head, turning around and punching the teenage girl right in the face. Harper's body immediately fell to the side, searing pain in her head as it bounced off the concrete. In the distance, she could hear Lydia scream her name and start sobbing again, but Harper could only whimper in response.

Moments later, Harper managed to pull her body back up, the pain in her head making her feel extremely sick. The voice of Brunski began to sound less far away to her, and then she heard the tape's heavy breathing again.

"This is the part I never understood," he spat.

"Please, don't hurt her..."

"Don't hurt who?" Brunski on the tape demanded.

"Ariel..." Lorraine used her last dying breath to beg.

A heavy silence filled the room as the cassette player clicked before coming to an automatic stop. Brunski began to back away from Lydia, moving over to a shelf and pulling out what looked like to be a box with a medical symbol on top.

"We get a lot of teenagers trying to break into our drug cabinets," he spoke, placing the box down on the floor, "most of the time they don't succeed. But you two look pretty clever to me."

Harper tilted her head to the side, the side of her lip dripping with blood from the force of his punch. He seemed to smirk at this as he grabbed a needle from the box and began to fill it up with some sort of liquid.

We're gonna die, Harper thought, just like all the others.

She continued to struggle against the restraints, gritting her teeth together. On the other side, she could hear Lydia doing the same, small whimpers escaping her lips. Brunski didn't seem to care that they were trying to get away- he was confident that it was impossible with the amount of rope around their dainty wrists.

"Now, Harper," Brunski spoke as he began to approach them with the needle, "I'm not allowed to do this on you, considering how much our secret little department values you and your brother. I'll send you down there after I've finished with Lydia, though."

"No!" Harper screamed, her throat practically on fire as she pulled harder than ever, straining her head to see Brunski grab Lydia by the head, the needle dangerously close to her neck.

"Freeze!" A familiar voice yelled from the doorway before Parrish entered, holding a gun up to Brunski's face, "take your hand off of that needle and slowly withdraw from her neck."

"Young deputy," Brunski sighed, "you're just a kid. I bet you've never even fired a-"

The Orderly was cut off by a gunshot, Harper's eyes squeezing shut and her legs shooting up to her chest. She'd never get used to those noises— especially when they were so close. Brunski's body dropped to the ground near her, blood seeping from his body and making her quickly look away.

"He- he killed my grandmother," Lydia whispered in a panicked tone as Parrish kneeled down next to her, untying her wrists, "he was controlling Meredith."

Harper nodded, "he used her to create the dead pool."

Lydia scrambled around, untying Harper's wrists as quickly as she could. The brunette swiftly moved to her feet, grabbing Lydia's arm as they looked down at Brunski who was still alive but barely breathing. His eyes were on the roof.

"And he killed her when she tried to help us," Lydia finished sourly.

A sudden splutter came from Brunski's body, blood shooting from his mouth like a fountain and splattering across his face and chest. He laughed anyway.

"You..." His voice strained as he panted, "you think it was me? That I was controlling her? She was controlling me."

Brunski laughed until he couldn't anymore, his last breath pained as his head rolled to the side, his eyes wide open. Harper looked away from his body, shaking her head and trying to remove the image from her brain.

"Oh, God," Lydia whispered, "it's not him. He's not the Benefactor."

"No," a woman sighed from behind them, "and... he wasn't on my list."

Meredith walked out of the shadows, everybody's eyes widening, "but he was a bad person."


	20. Chapter 20

HARPER HUFFED FOR the millionth time as she laid back against the hospital bed, her finger going up to gently touch the cut on her slightly-swelled bottom lip. She wished she was doing something to help right now, but as soon as Lydia had told the medics that Harper had been punched, she had been taken straight to the hospital.

"It's not even that bad," she muttered sourly to Melissa who was cleaning up the table next to Harper, "it doesn't hurt anymore."

The nurse turned around, sighing at her foster daughter. "You have a concussion, Harper, you're gonna need a CT scan. You're staying right here where I can see you."

A CT scan- something that was going to cost Melissa yet more money. Harper didn't mention this, she was sure Melissa already knew and would also say that it wasn't up for discussion whether she went through with it or not.

Maybe one good thing had come out of the whole Eichen trip, though. Some high officials, Harper was too dazed to catch their names, had offered money as an apology for one of their Orderly's basically trying to kill her, but Harper had asked for them to pay off Stiles' debt instead. She wasn't sure whether they would be able to go through with it or not- they said they'd see what they could do. But at least she had tried.

The brunette stared up at the ceiling above her head, already bored out of her mind at the thought of staying in this room any longer. She'd taken the tape that had Lorraine's death on it and needed to get home so she could show it to Stiles-maybe he'd be able to figure something out that she and Lydia couldn't.

"Melissa," Harper called as the curly-haired woman started to leave, "please may you bring me a smoothie from one of the vending machines?"

The mother-figure smiled, "of course, Harper."

...

HARPER'S PHONE RANG on the table next to her bed, making her flinch. She rolled over, not surprised to see that it was Stiles calling her. Lydia would have told Scott by now, who had probably told Stiles- which wasn't actually an ideal situation at this moment in time. While Harper wanted nothing more than to cuddle up in her boyfriend's arms, she knew he wasn't going to be happy when he saw her.

She let the phone ring until it stopped from his end, but he started calling again. Harper pursed her lips together as she stared at the icon she had set for him, her resistance automatically becoming weaker. It was still him with that stupid buzzcut that she adored so much, a grin on his face as he held his hand up to the camera to try to stop her taking the photo. She'd set it before they'd even started dating.

The ringing died out again, leaving her in silence. Harper swung her legs over the edge of the bed, resting her head in her hands as she wondered what the hell she was doing.

Moments later, a knock came from the door, causing her to glance up. Melissa smiled as she poked her head around, swinging the door open.

"Yeah?" The brunette sighed.

"Finished with your smoothie?" Melissa gestured towards the empty bottle on the side, grabbing it for her and throwing it in the bin.

"Thanks, Melissa," she murmured, "do you know when my CT scan is so I can leave?"

"It's supposed to be a couple of hours yet, sweetheart," the woman said softly, "and while I'm here, I think you're going to be having a visitor any minute."

As if on cue, Harper's phone began to buzz again.

"He called and said he was on his way ten minutes ago," Melissa frowned, "why aren't you answering the phone? You know Stiles, he's probably freaking out about now."

"I don't want him to yell at me," Harper admitted, looking at the ground in embarrassment, "I think if he gets mad I'll probably start crying, and I don't want to cry."

Melissa brought her foster daughter in for a tight hug, "it's because he cares so much, sweetie."

"I know," the brunette whispered back right as Melissa's watch began to beep, "I'll see you later?"

"Yeah," she glanced down at her watch apologetically, "see you later."

...

Harper twiddled with her fingers on her lap, a deep sigh escaping her lips. Someone came practically skidding into her hospital room, and as her neck snapped up, she was unsurprised to see Stiles leaning in the doorway, panting. His hazel eyes seemed slightly crazed until they landed on her body. He shook his head, clenching his jaw.

The brunette jumped off of the bed, ready to explain before he could start yelling.

"Stiles, I-" Harper was cut off as her boyfriend took two long strides over, grabbing the back of her head and tilting it down before pressing his lips against hers.

Gasping quietly, Harper's lips played along with his attack, her hands unfreezing from her sides to wrap around his neck and pull him down more to her height. Stiles kissed her more forcefully than usual, his thin lips making the cut on hers throb.

He kissed her like he hadn't seen her in months, his eyes long closed and his hands gripping her as if he was afraid she wasn't really standing in front of him right now. Eventually, the two teenagers had to pull away for air, but when they did they didn't stray far from each other.

Stiles rested his forehead on hers as they panted, his eyes closing for a long time as if he was trying to process what had happened. Harper guessed he had a lot to say. She would too if she was in his position.

Slowly, his hands fell away from her hair, his slender fingers trailing down the side of her face. She watched as he stared at the bruise forming on her skin, the pads of his fingers touching it gently and causing her to flinch back a little.

"Brunski did this?" Stiles muttered lowly, his voice almost reminding her of when he had been possessed, "he hurt you?"

Harper blinked and nodded, waiting for his next words anxiously. He released her face, and began to chew the nail of his thumb. He was holding back, she could tell. She knew how badly he wanted to say what was on his mind.

"What were you thinking?"

The words were simple but made Harper feel incredibly stupid, her ears immediately burning and her eyes darting to look anywhere but his. They remained on the hospital floor.

"That I wanted to help Lydia," Harper swallowed, forcing herself to look back up at him, "I wanted to do something."

"It was reckless," Stiles ran his hand over his jaw, shaking his head, "you've been making a lot of those types of decisions lately, too. Ever since that- that night on the cliff edge."

"You don't have to call it that," the brunette huffed, "you can just say it how it is, Stiles. The night I almost killed myself."

They hadn't spoken about that night yet. It made Stiles' heart lurch the way she said it. He always referred to it as 'that night' in his head, simply because he didn't want to admit the truth. His girlfriend being so upset that she came inches away from suicide wasn't something he liked to think about at all.

She saw the way Stiles' angry glare faltered for a moment. He didn't know what to say for a couple of seconds and it was obvious.

"It feels like since you tried to kill yourself you keep on doing reckless acts because you don't care what happens to you," he forced himself to say, disguising the pain in his voice with anger, "chasing after Violet, sacrificing yourself to find out who the Benefactor is, going to Glen Capri with Derek, this."

Harper listened to what he had to say with burning ears.

"You know, Parrish told me he found you just as Brunski was about to give the two of you lethal injections. Lethal injections," he swallowed, furious at the idea, "and he fucking punched you, Harper," his gaze flickered to the bruising. "Some grown man smashed his fist against your face as hard as he could and gave you a concussion, but it could have been so much worse. And do you know how angry that makes me? It makes my blood boil. If he wasn't already dead, I'd be-"

"In Eichen House?" Harper finally met his eyes, "getting your revenge? Doing something reckless? You do stupid shit too, Stiles. Like going after that teacher during the exam. You were lucky Agent McCall was there, or you wouldn't be here right now either."

Stiles' jaw clenched, hating the fact that he had nothing to say back. Harper was right, after all. He did do reckless things all the time, just like she did. He watched wearily as Harper sat down on the bed, folding her legs.

"I'm sorry I lied to you," she murmured, "and I'm sorry that I scared you. But I'm not sorry that I helped Lydia, or at least tried to. I felt... I felt like I owed it to her after basically breaking her heart."

A moment of silence went by before the bed creaked next to her, Stiles' weight making a slight dip. Her fingers were fiddling together on her lap before his much larger hand crept over and gently took them, holding them tight and squeezing them.

"I just want to wrap you up in bubble wrap and never let you go," he admitted, his voice softer with a more easy-going tone than before, "but I know I can't do that, and I'm sorry too. I'm sorry for getting so angry."

Harper dropped her head onto his shoulder, staring at their hands which were fiddling with each other. Suddenly, she pulled them away and stood up, causing Stiles' eyebrows to pinch together. Before he could ask, Harper grabbed her denim jacket off of the end of the hospital bed and held a finger to him.

"Wait here," she ordered, "I'll be five minutes max."

Stiles didn't look too pleased with her command but huffed and nodded anyway, watching as she left through the door. He drummed his fingers against the mattress impatiently, his eyes casting over to Harper's phone on the side of the table. He picked it up, looking at her home screen.

He swiped away the notifications of his missed calls with a small sigh, finding her background behind it. The dark-haired boy's lips threatened to tug up into a smile when he saw that it was still the picture of them before their winter formal. He had the buzzcut that he hated so much in it, causing his hand to absentmindedly reach up and touch his new, longer hair.

When he heard the door creak back open, he placed the phone back down and glanced up- eyes widening when he saw Harper entering with what looked like a million and one things in her hands. She struggled to place it down on the bed- the majority being candy from the vending machines.

"What are you doing?" Stiles chuckled in amusement as she picked up a rose from the scattered mess, placing it in a cup on her bedside table.

"You know some patients get roses?" Harper huffed, "I didn't get a rose."

He raised his brows, watching as she moved the wheely table to slide in place between them from where they were sat on the bed. The brunette placed a pack of Reeces in front of him as well as one of his favourite sandwiches. She had some M&Ms with her, and a sandwich of her own.

"They didn't have fizzy drinks," Harper handed him a smoothie.

"Harper," his eyes shone with what Harper detected as admiration, making her cheeks coat with a blush, "what are we doing, babe?"

The nickname made her feel even more bashful as she shrugged with an innocent smile.

"I have a couple of hours to kill before my CT scan, and I believe I asked you on a date a week back," Harper grinned, watching as he began to smile further, "and this may be very low budget, but I only had five bucks on me."

Stiles' heart practically melted at the gesture, his eyes soft and his lips slightly pouting. He looked at her as if she had put the stars and moon in the sky, and in his opinion, she might as well of, since he was so head over heels for her. After being so close to losing her, a date in her hospital room sounded perfect to him.

"I don't care if it's 'low budget'," he rolled his eyes, unable to stop his smile, "as long as I'm with you and you're safe, it's perfect."

Harper stared at him a moment longer, trying to ignore the blush only growing hotter on her face. For the next couple of hours, the teenagers managed to pretend and be somewhat normal, laughing and joking, kissing and hand holding.

Eventually, it was time for Harper's CT scan, which luckily only took about half an hour. Stiles waited beside Melissa the entire time and grabbed her jacket when it was time to leave, helping her into it. His hand brushed against something in the pocket, frowning when he pulled out a tape labelled 'Lorraine Martin'.

"What's this?" He asked.

Harper's eyes widened and she grabbed the tape, shoving it back into the pocket before anybody else saw it.

"Something you need to check out. Come on."

...

MALIA SEEMED TO have forgiven Isaac for hiding the fact that she was a Hale, and luckily that meant the werecoyote had silently forgiven the rest of the pack as well. Harper was glad. While Malia's anger towards her hadn't particularly been on her radar, she still didn't want one of her best friends to be upset with her.

Apparently, the pair had even made things official. Everybody knew that Isaac and Malia had been sneaking around and had feelings for each other, but Malia told Harper with a beaming grin that finally he had 'gotten over himself' and asked her to be his girlfriend, which Harper thought was great. They both deserved each other.

Now, the two couples were sat around the desk in Harper's room, a cassette player in front of them as they listened intently to the tape playing through it. Stiles and Malia sat at the desk, Harper leaning on the wall behind them while Isaac leaned over Malia, his large hands gripping the back of her chair.

"I have to take you back to Eichen, Lorraine," Brunski spoke on the other side, so Stiles turned the volume up louder.

"No- no. I don't think you're going to be taking me anywhere," Lydia's grandmother breathed back, "I can hear the recorder in your pocket. It's on now, isn't it? You're making a tape. Just like you taped the others."

"So she wasn't killed at Eichen House," Isaac raised his eyebrows.

Malia frowned, "but then where did she go?"

"That's what we need to find out," Stiles sighed.

They replayed the tape again and again, and this time Malia and Isaac listened out for anything in the background that Stiles and Harper couldn't hear. The four of them crowded it anxiously, trying to find something- anything- to figure out where Lorraine Martin had been killed.

"No, no. I don't think you're taking me anywhere-"

"Pause it!" Isaac demanded, blue eyes wide.

Harper's finger snapped forward and she immediately did as she was told, looking to Malia who nodded quickly.

"That's where it is," she confirmed.

"I can hear the recorder in your pocket..." The woman's voice carried out like before, but this time Malia was thinking hard, her brows furrowed.

"It's the record player," she realised.

"What record player?" Stiles asked, switching off the tape.

"The one in the study room at Lydia's lakehouse?" Harper asked, recalling how the strawberry blonde had said she couldn't stop listening to it.

"So she escaped from Eichen House to go back to listen to a record player?" Isaac scoffed.

"Well, she was like Lydia, right? She was a banshee?" Malia asked, starting to pace the room as ideas filtered her brain.

Harper shrugged, "well, she only really predicted one death. Maddy's. Then she spent the rest of her life trying to predict something else. Y'know, the reason she ended up in Eichen House."

"Maybe she finally did," Malia's eyes widened and she whirled back around to face the three teenagers, "and what if this time, it wasn't one death? What if it was a lot of deaths?"

"Like the dead pool," Stiles sat up straighter, interested.

"What if all those years ago, Lorraine predicted it? And she knew there was something in the study that could stop it?" Malia continued.

"So we go to the lake house," Isaac insisted.

Stiles nodded, grabbing his keys in one hand and Harper's hand in the other before taking off.

"Put this on."

Harper glanced up at Stiles, finding him holding out a black hoodie. Malia and Isaac were in the hallway, shuffling to get their shoes on so that they could leave the McCall household. She raised a brow as if to ask why.

Sighing, he pushed it into her arms, "Scott, Kira and Derek are with Satomi's pack right now. People are out trying to kill them for the dead pool and I just got off the phone with Scott- he said to watch you since you're worth forty million now."

The brunette gulped, shrugging on the hoodie and zipping it up all of the way. Stiles sent her an uneasy smile that she was sure was meant to be reassuring before pulling the hood up to cover her face. Grabbing her hand, he lead her outside and to the jeep- ready to stop this dead pool for once and for all.

...

THE FOUR CROWDED around the bright red record player, listening to the static sounds it produced that meant nothing to any of them. Every now and then a faint murmur would emit from it, like a voice, but none of them could make it out.

Stiles sighed, standing up, "what are we doing? This room wasn't even made for us. You know, we need someone like Lydia or Meredith. We're just sitting here listening to a stupid record player play a record that doesn't play anything."

He switched the button off, "come on. There's plenty of other things we could be totally useless doing."

Harper sighed as she watched him storm off, not missing the way Isaac rolled his eyes. Malia, however, was concentrated on it- her eyes wide.

"What is it?" Isaac asked his girlfriend.

Malia's gaped, "I can still hear it."

"It's not on," Harper murmured, eyes double checking the power button which was still off.

Stiles remained in the doorway, eyebrows furrowed and his hands on his hips.

"Then it's something else," the werecoyote insisted as the two girls climbed up off of the carpeted floor, "something's spinning. Isaac, can you hear it?"

Isaac nodded keenly, edging closer to the record player. His sense of hearing was better than Malia's from being in control of his powers much longer, and so he moved over. He swallowed when he realised the whirring noise wasn't coming from the record player but the wall behind it. 

Stiles was next to him seconds later, his hazel eyes landing on the wire that was feeding from the back and into the wall. He pushed the table out of the way with the help of the werewolf before bending down and holding it. He looked back at Harper who nodded.

Stiles started to pull, creating a small hole in the wall. He hesitated before tugging harder, the wire ripping upwards as plaster scattered the carpet. Soon enough there was a split in the centre. Malia moved forwards and helped him rip the rest of the thin wall away, the whirring noise now in Harper and Stiles' ears too.

The Empath gulped as three massive machines were revealed on the other end. Isaac appeared just as confused as she felt.

"What is it?" He asked.

"The dead pool," Stiles whispered.

Immediately, Malia's fist balled up and she sent her arm hurdling forwards, only for Isaac to grab her wrist. She stared at him incredulously, but Isaac glanced at Stiles.

"Do we break it? Will that stop it?" The werewolf questioned.

"My best guess is no," Harper answered for him, "if this thing is what's spreading the lists, then I bet you it will probably keep going until everyone on it is dead."

"So what do we do?" Malia sighed.

"We need some kind of prompt, or command or something, right?" Stiles guessed.

Malia began to move closer, her eyes inspecting all of the switches on top of the middle machine. Stiles went to pull her back, but she gently pointed up at a slot.

"What about a key?"

Harper had Lydia on FaceTime in the next couple of minutes, showing the strawberry blonde what they had found in her wall and briefly telling her what they had realised about the dead pool.

"Can you see it clearly?" She asked, hovering it over everything, "do you know a way to stop it?"

"I don't know," Lydia groaned, "I don't know anything about computers from the 1970s."

Malia popped her head in really close to Harper's, their cheeks pressed against each other as she called, "neither do we!"

The banshee sighed on the other end, "okay, where's the monitor?"

"There isn't one," Harper scanned it, taking her eyes off of the phone, "there's buttons, switches, everything- just no monitor."

She moved to show her the machines again, only for Lydia to burst, "wait, turn the phone back. Back to the carpet."

Harper frowned in confusion but did as she was told. She showed Lydia the cream carpet, watching as the other girl's face scrunched up.

"Where's the stain?" She muttered, "there should be red blotches, a wine stain."

"There's nothing," Stiles appeared next to his girlfriend.

"That doesn't make sense. I gave the five hundred dollars I was supposed to use to hire cleaners to Brunski."

"Lydia, what the hell does wine have to do with anything?" Stiles rolled his eyes, becoming more and more frustrated as he snatched Harper's phone.

"Red wine doesn't just disappear," the girl deadpanned, "unless it wasn't wine."

Isaac frowned, "what do you mean?"

"The ashes weren't ashes. The study isn't a study. The record player isn't a record player. So... so maybe the wine wasn't wine. Guys, you have to find the wine. Find the bottle, there might be something about it."

"What kind? What's it called?" Stiles questioned.

"It's a 1982 Cotes du Rhone."

Stiles immediately darted away, handing the phone back to Harper who thanked Lydia swiftly before hanging up. Stiles came running back into the room a minute later, holding a said bottle of wine. He shook it and Harper heard something inside.

"We need a bottle opener or-" Stiles was cut off as Isaac grabbed the bottle from his hands and threw it down at the carpet.

The bottle smashed everywhere, red wine splattering against the carpet. Malia bent down and grabbed the key from inside, shoving it in Stiles' hands. Harper breathed anxiously, nodding her head.

"Try it," she spoke, excited.

Without hesitation, Stiles moved to the machine and pushed the key into the slot, twisting it. And suddenly, everything shut down. The lights turned off, the machines stopped whirring and everything went silent.

"Is it over?" Isaac swallowed.

"I think so," Harper whispered, "I think so..."


	21. Chapter 21

STILES STUMBLED INTO the bathroom early the next morning, rubbing his eyes using the backs of his hands. For the first time in a long time he had managed to have a good sleep, barely any of the worries of the dead pool infiltrating his dreams. He'd been pretty tired after the way he and Harper had chosen to celebrate, too.

Immediately, the Stilinski boy felt much more awake when his eyes landed on the girl herself. She stood at the sink in a bra and her underwear, her earphones in while she brushed her teeth, not yet having noticed her boyfriend enter. Stiles smirked a little as he approached her, wrapping his arms around her from behind.

Harper jolted a little, her eyes snapping up into the mirror before she smiled at him. Stiles smiled back sleepily, tucking her hair out of the way of her neck before pressing gentle kisses there. The muffled sounds of some alternative band came from Harper's earplugs, but he didn't know who they were.

While Stiles was more All Time Low, Harper was more The Neighbourhood. Neither hated each other's music tastes though- in fact, since they had started discovering what they liked around age thirteen, it was nonstop playlist sharing between the two, even to this day.

Harper spat out the toothpaste and took an earbud out, turning around so that her front was now pressed against his. Stiles had climbed out of bed only sporting his boxers, not that she was complaining. Her hands went from around his neck to down his chest, the tips of her fingers resting just below his collarbones.

"G'morning," she reached up to press her lips against his.

Stiles pulled away, the smile not leaving his face, "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."

Rolling her eyes, the brunette moved her arms back around his neck and pulled him back down so he was more level with her five foot one figure. Stiles grinned against her lips, his large hands flat against her bare back as he held her close too. Harper honestly didn't care that Stiles hadn't brushed his teeth, and to be honest, she could only really taste the mint from her own breath.

"I could get used to you walking around in just your bra and panties," Stiles admitted, pulling away to press their foreheads against each other, "and waking up to you in my bed."

"Well, that's all in the vision right?" Harper raised her brows, "you, me, and Scott sharing a flat when we go to college?"

Stiles grinned harder, bopping her nose adorably, "glad you see the vision too."

Harper shook her head, "I love the vision."

"Just no walking around half naked with Scott around," he declared, making Harper chuckle.

They kissed again, this one shorter than the last one. Harper ended up pulling away when the alarm on her phone started going off from Stiles' bedroom.

"You need to hurry up and get ready," she patted his chest, parting from his arms even though they felt like heaven, "you have lacrosse practice this morning. Coach will be pissed if you're late."

Grumbling something under his breath, Stiles obeyed Harper and began to get ready. Meanwhile, Harper moved into his bedroom which was attached to the bathroom and grabbed the clothes she had brought over to change into today- just a pair of tights and a sage green shirt dress that tied around the middle.

"Nervous for your results?" Stiles asked as he chucked a shirt on.

Harper finished applying her mascara and put the wand away, shrugging her shoulders.

"I'm more nervous for Malia, to be honest," the brunette admitted, "I know she's worried she won't be coming up with us next year. But then again, her and Isaac studied nonstop for it so..."

"You realise they weren't actually studying, right?"

"Ew."

...

"LYDIA? LYDIA! LOOK, I passed," Malia lifted up her test paper, trying to get the attention of the strawberry blonde to her right.

Kira was sat behind Malia grinning proudly as Coach slapped Harper's exam down on her desk. A small sigh of relief escaped her lips when she saw the A- written at the top of her paper in red ink, just thankful that she got a high pass.

"C minus," Lydia pursed her lips from the desk in front of Harper, trying to sound happy for the girl who, in Lydia's books, did not get a good grade.

Malia nodded eagerly, "yeah, your notes are great when they're not written in code."

Coach slammed the werecoyote's next exam down. Harper looked over Lydia's shoulder, her shoulders sagging in defeat when she saw the F- written at the top.

"Disappointed, Malia," Coach Finnstock muttered, consequently causing Malia's face to fall, "profoundly disappointed."

Lydia stared at Malia for a second before promising, "I'll send you my notes."

"Kira, what did you get?" Harper asked casually, glancing over at the girl next to her.

"A-," she beamed, causing Harper to high five her and exclaim, "me too!"

Her smile faltered when she noticed how tense Lydia appeared. Nerves were rolling off her and Kira seemed to notice it too- she didn't need to be an Empath.

"Lyds, it's over," Harper reminded her.

Kira nodded, "the computer's are off. No more assassins, no more murders. No one's dying."

"Not yet."

...

LYDIA'S WORDS CHILLED Harper, but she went by the rest of the day just hoping it was the girl being a pessimist like usual. School finished with no supernatural disturbances for her, which felt like hadn't happened in a long time and she couldn't wait to go home and take a long, hot bath.

"Harper," Isaac jogged up to meet her in the hallway, gently grabbing her by the arm, "hey, um, I was kinda hoping that you don't come home tonight."

Raising her eyebrows, the Empath released a scoff and feigned hurt. Seeing Isaac immediately become more awkward than before was amusing to her, so she carried on.

"Ouch, Isaac," she muttered bitterly, blinking as if she didn't understand, "I didn't know you hated me so much."

Realising she was joking, he rolled his eyes, "ha ha. It's just, Kira told Malia all about the date Scott's taking her on tonight, and Malia got upset because I've never taken her out. And since I have no money, I wanted to make a sort of fort thing in the living room, but-"

"Say no more," Harper caught sight of Stiles coming down the hall and he immediately waved in her direction, "I have a feeling someone else didn't want me going home tonight either."

Unsurprisingly, Harper was correct. It got to about seven o'clock and it was dark out, the only source of light being the lamp on Stiles' desk where he sat scribbling his maths homework. Meanwhile, Harper was sprawled out across his bed, lazily typing an English essay on his laptop.

A knock came from the door despite it being wide open causing both teenagers to glance up. Sheriff Stilinski stood there with a smile on his face, finally out of his work uniform and in a cotton jumper and some jeans.

"Drop what you're doing," he ordered playfully as he entered the room, "I'm taking you both out to dinner. Whatever you want."

Stiles glanced over at Harper before releasing his pen, "dad, I don't think a man of your debts should be treating anyone to anything."

Noah reached into his back pocket, producing an envelope, "well, there is one debt we no longer have to worry about."

Harper closed the lid of her laptop and sat up curiously as Stiles snatched it, asking what it was before even opening it. Noah looked over at his son's girlfriend, smiling gratefully.

"A letter from Eichen House," he explained, "apparently, they've decided to forgive our debt as an apology for, uh, well, Harper and Lydia almost getting murdered."

Harper chewed down on her bottom lip, trying not to grin as she realised that it had worked. Stiles looked over at her, his eyes softening, looking like they were practically melting against the dim light of the lamp.

"You did this?" He murmured.

The Empath shrugged, "you've both saved me a bunch of times, it's the least I could do. Besides, family look out for each other, right?"

Noah and Stiles both broke out into a grins, the older man holding his hands out to the girl. Harper beamed, a bounce in her step as she hopped off of Stiles' bed and wrapped her arms around her father figure. Noah squeezed her before opening his arms wider for Stiles to join in. Soon enough, Harper was in the middle of a Stilinski sandwich, causing her to giggle.

"You didn't have to do this for us, Harper," Noah hummed.

"It's not like I cut my leg off, I just asked if it was possible," Harper dismissed his concerns as they all pulled apart.

Noah chuckled, "you're my favourite."

"Hey!" Stiles laughed, playfully smacking his dad's arm.

Harper looked between them, beaming brightly. With the dead pool finished and some weight off of the Stilinski's shoulders, she couldn't help but feel a lot more optimistic.

"But... you know, if you really want, you can repay me by taking me to my favourite Chinese restaurant," she grinned cheekily.

Noah and Stiles laughed, "Let's go."

...

HARPER AND THE STILINSKIS finished their meal in time for the big lacrosse game of Beacon Hills VS Devenford Prep, Stiles rushing off to the changing rooms while Harper went to find a seat with Noah.

"Let's sit here, yeah?" He picked some seats a few rows behind where Stiles normally sat on the bench.

Harper nodded, pulling the ends of her dress closer to her knees when she sat as Malia came bouncing over, a grin on her face. She took a seat on the other side of Harper, the shorter girl's eyebrows raising.

"You feel like sunshine," Harper acknowledged with a smile of her own, "I take it your date with Isaac went well?"

The werecoyote nodded quickly, "so well."

She watched as Isaac moved across the field, going to sit down next to Stiles who was adjusting his gloves on the bench. Malia's happiness was contagious, making Harper shove her with a giggle.

"Seriously, what happened?"

Malia pursed her lips, turning her attention away from her boyfriend and back to the girl she probably considered her best friend— maybe joined with Kira, but Kira didn't need to know that.

A small blush coated her cheeks, although Harper couldn't tell if it was from the slightly chilly air or not. Her nose was the same colour, making her look adorable with her beanie pulled over her head.

"Okay, so, I get to your house, right? And he's in the middle of building a fort— he used some of your blankets by the way, but don't tell him I told you— and it was going horribly. Obviously, as a past coyote I have some experience, so I helped build this really cool den and there were lights and pizza and—"

Harper began to squeal with the teenage girl, both smacking hands with each other and stomping their feet as if they had just been asked out by their crushes or something. Noah glanced at them and shook his head with a smile of amusement.

"— and! So, we were in the middle of having sex—"

Harper's smile dropped, "in the fort?"

Malia frowned, nodding, "Yeah?" She seemed disappointed that Harper had cut her off from her explanation.

"The fort made out of my blankets?" Harper clarified, her eye twitching in a manner that Malia would describe as 'very Stiles'.

She blushed, "at least Isaac and I have never had sex in the kitchen— where people eat!"

Immediately, Harper began to choke on her own spit, swiftly glancing behind to make sure Stiles' dad wasn't listening. Luckily, he wasn't— he was too busy talking to the parent next to him.

"Okay, fine," Harper lowered her voice, although she wasn't mad. She was actually far from it, she wanted to know the end of the story now, "what happened next?"

"So we were, you-know-what-ing, and he just tells me he loves me!" Malia exclaimed, "so I said it back, because I think I do, and I've never seen him so happy. Makes me happy too."

Harper awed, squeezing her friend's hand, "I'm so happy for you two. You're so cute together."

"How did you and Stiles first say I love you?" She asked curiously.

The brunette thought back to the day that felt like yesterday but had actually been just under a year and half ago, an absentminded smile crossing her delicate features. She looked down at Stiles who was talking to Liam, a particularly sour look on his face.

"We just kind of blurted it at the same time," Harper admitted, "it was the weekend after the winter formal in our sophomore year. I actually have never told him this, but when I was half conscious, I heard him tell his dad that he loved me, so I wanted to say it to him as soon as I woke, but I guess great minds think alike, right?"

Malia has a lovestruck expression on her face. It was strange for the Empath to be talking about romance with Malia, who had never really been for it before tonight. Before, she and Allison would talk about Scott and Stiles together. No offence to Lydia, but Harper didn't really like to take relationship advice from the strawberry blonde.

The buzzing of a mobile phone in her pocket made Harper jump a little. She sent Malia an apologetic smile before pulling it out of the pocket of her dress and scanning the text from her boyfriend himself.

STILES:  
Scott and Kira aren't here yet. We're screwed without them.

Biting down on her lip, Harper tried to send an encouraging reply. She thought back to the incident around the time of the Kanima, when Stiles became the Lacrosse King for a whole fifteen minutes before everything was ruined by Gerard.

HARPER:  
says the guy who scored goal after goal when he was finally put on the field for a game. you're going to ace it.

STILES:  
i hope you're right.

Unfortunately, Harper was not right. After bragging to Liam and Isaac about how good he was getting at lacrosse, the teenage boy ran out onto the field only to get made a fool of. Harper had never seen his limbs move so spastically every time he was hit by a ball or knocked over by the other team.

When half time arrived, Devenford Prep were still kicking Beacon Hills' ass, and there was still no sign of Scott or Kira. Harper had texted them both a couple of times, but she figured they were just too into their date to even notice how much time had went by.

Coach Finnstock was throwing a hissy fit on the edge of the field, cursing loudly and throwing his clip board the the ground before stomping it. Harper's amusement faded as Stiles came rushing over.

"I think something's happened," he panted, "with Scott and Kira."

Harper pursed her lips. She hadn't thought that anything had been wrong until now.

Noah stood up, "let's go then," he spoke determinedly.

Malia raised her brows, "should I stay here in case they show up?"

Nodding gratefully, Stiles took Harper's hand and lead her away from the field, Noah right behind them. It was Harper and Stiles' turn to try and save Scott, not the other way around.

...

DEREK TEXTED STILES, telling him to go to his loft. Once he had changed out of his lacrosse uniform and back into a plaid shirt, Stiles, Harper and Sheriff Stilinski drove to Derek's block of apartments as quickly as they could.

Harper gasped slightly as they entered through the sliding doors, finding the werewolf himself stood with Braeden among a mess. Lights were strung from the ceiling, only half still turned on. It was obvious that some sort of attack had gone down- the window was smashed and furniture had been flung around.

"What the hell happened?" Stiles urged.

Derek replied solemnly, "it was supposed to be a date."

"They were both here?" The Sheriff asked.

Braeden nodded, "and they're both gone."

Harper's phone began to buzz in the pocket of her dress, making Derek raise his eyebrows at her. Pursing her lips, Harper pulled out her phone and hit answer, immediately holding it to her ear when she saw it was Lydia.

"Alright?" Harper greeted.

"Scott's been taken!" Lydia blurted.

"And Kira," the brunette corrected, "we're at Derek's loft now. We don't know where they've gone."

"Mexico," another voice rang out. It took Harper a moment to realise that Lydia was with Deaton, making her eyebrows furrow. "And if you want to save his life, that's where you're going too."

"How do you know he's there?" Harper demanded, feeling panic in the pit of her stomach for two of her closest friends.

Deaton replied, "a man called Dr Valack showed me. I saw it."

She paused, not quite believing what she had heard.

"I'm sorry, did you just say Valack?"


	22. Chapter 22

WHEN THE SUN came up the next morning, not a single member of the pack had had a wink of sleep yet. Harper sat on the edge of her bed, chewing on her nail as she waited for Stiles to come back with permission from his dad for them to go to Mexico. She thought it was a long shot that he would say yes, but Stiles did have a way of convincing people.

Harper was still struggling to comprehend the fact that Deaton had gone to her father of all people, and she was struggling even further to comprehend that he had said her father had a third eye underneath the bandage around his forehead. Harper had just assumed it was some sort of normal wound- not a freaking eyeball that he had drilled to discover.

There was the theory that Harper's father was setting them up for a trap since he was not someone that should be trusted. However, with no signs of Scott or Kira and Mexico being the place it had all started, the pack had decided that it was a risk that they were willing to take. After all, Scott would do the same for any of them in a heartbeat.

A bang came from downstairs followed by footsteps running up them. Harper moved from her place on her bed and wandered into the hallway, finding Stiles, Isaac and Malia stood there.

"What did he say?" Harper urged as the three other teenagers began to barge into Scott's bedroom.

"He said no," Stiles shrugged, opening up Scott's wardrobe and flinging a shirt at Malia. "Here, try that."

The brunette pursed her lips. "Let me guess. We're going anyway?"

"You know me so well," he muttered under his breath, turning to find something for Isaac to catch the scent of Scott on.

Malia shook her head, "fabric softener."

Grunting, Stiles rushed into the bathroom that joined Scott and Harper's rooms, going over to the laundry basket. Harper, who was stood in the doorway, gaped at him as he opened it up, reaching into it.

"Stiles!" She whined, embarrassed, "that's not just Scott's."

Stiles pulled out a pair of dark blue checkered boxers that clearly did not belong to his girlfriend. He held them out to Malia, who scrunched her face up immediately and shook her head like she was being held hostage or something.

"Remember, Scott's life is on the line," Stiles reminded her.

"Or we could catch his scent from his pillow," Isaac called from inside the bedroom, already holding up the soft object.

He inhaled it and nodded, making Stiles roll his eyes and grumble something under his breath about Isaac being 'such a smart ass'. Harper rolled her eyes back at him and grabbed his wrist, the pair jogging down the stairs. She caught sight of Liam sat at the table in the kitchen, making her jump.

"Is this house just a meet up for everyone now?" She grumbled, her hand on her heart.

"Ugh, Liam! Go home," Stiles ordered, "you're not coming with us."

"Why not?" The freshman complained as Stiles shoved past him, the rest of the group on his trail.

"It is a full moon tonight," Harper stopped to remind him softly, "you're not properly in control yet. What if something went wrong on the drive down to Mexico?"

Liam argued back, "you can lock me up, right? Chain me down to the back seat or something."

"You tore through the last chains, genius," Isaac raised his brows, folding his arms across his cardigan-clad chest, Malia nodding from alongside him.

"Yeah, we'd have to freeze you in carbonite to get you down there," Stiles referenced to his favourite movie series, yet held a stern face as if he was completely serious.

"Okay," Liam shrugged optimistically, "then where do we get carbonite?"

Malia turned to Stiles, also waiting for the answer. Harper released a laugh through her nose at the expression on the oldest teenage boy's face. His fingers were pinching each other as he squinted his eyes at the freshman, pursing his lips in disbelief.

The only reason the Empath knew about his reference was the number of times that she had been forced to watch Star Wars on their movie nights.

"Seriously?" He muttered before walking away, "you haven't seen it either?"

"Wait!" Liam called, "what if you put me in the trunk?"

"You'd get out of that too," Malia shook her head.

"Liam, you've been a werewolf all of five minutes," Stiles sighed, looking at him sympathetically now, "you don't have to do this."

"I know I don't, but I want to. There's got to be bigger chains, a bigger trunk, something. There's gotta be!"

"Maybe there is."

...

THEIR SOLUTION SWUNG around the corner with squeaky brakes, coming to a harsh stop about fifteen feet away from the jeep. Harper watched as Braeden climbed out of the front seat, slamming the door behind her.

"Where'd you get a prison transport van?" Stiles asked, wondering if she had stolen it or not.

She smirked, "I'm a US Marshal."

"Yeah, I just thought that was just a cover," he shrugged as another car pulled up, Derek and Peter climbing out of the vehicle.

Isaac moved closer to Malia, making her roll her eyes. Since she'd found out that Peter was her father, Malia had spoken to him a few times- not that Isaac particularly liked it. She'd found out some important stuff, like the fact that her mother was a woman called 'The Desert Wolf'.

"You're really bringing him?" Derek gestured towards Liam.

Harper huffed, "he wants to help," she glared at Peter, "are you really bringing him?"

"We're bringing everyone that we can," Peter sent her a small glare, "and considering that Scott and Kira were taken before a full moon, we should probably get going."

"What's that mean?" Malia asked.

"If Kate took Scott back to the same temple that she took Derek, how do we know she's not planning to do the same thing to him?"

Liam appeared confused, "she wants to make him younger?"

"Or take him back to when he wasn't a werewolf," Derek guessed.

"A werewolf can't steal a True Alpha's power," Peter disclaimed, "but maybe a Nagual Jaguar with the power of Tezcatlipoca behind her... Maybe she can. So, if everyone's sufficiently freaked out, we should get going."

"We can't," Harper disagreed, "not without Lydia."

Harper moved away from the group as she tried to call her strawberry blonde friend. Lydia had agreed on going with them to Mexico, except first she needed to go back the school. She planned on getting Kira's jacket from her locker so they could also catch a scent on the Yukimura girl.

"She's not answering," Harper bit her lip as she approached the group again.

"If she has a car she can catch up to us," Braeden insisted.

"That's a good point," Peter added, "we'll call from the road."

"What if something happened?" Stiles huffed.

The past-alpha rolled his eyes, "fine. You two stay. You find her. We're gonna go on without you."

Harper's teeth released her bottom lip as she sighed, watching Peter stomped away. Noticing the fallen expressions of his new friends, Liam thought quickly.

"Mason's at the school for a study group. Maybe he could look for her," he suggested.

The brunette nodded as everybody began to move towards their designated areas. Malia was going to sit up front with her father while Harper, Isaac, Derek and Stiles were due to sit in the back with Liam to try and help him with his control.

"Remember what we're dealing with here, guys," Peter called as he shrugged his black coat onto his shoulders, "it's not just Kate, it's Beserkers. You might see human eyes behind those skulls, do not assume that there's any humanity left," he looked towards Liam, "this little one is terrified of them, aren't you?"

Liam didn't reply, he just looked away.

"Don't worry, my friend. It is that fear that will keep you alive," the older man promised, "a reminder to everyone. You do not fight Beserkers to survive, you fight to kill."

...

THEY HAD BEEN on the road for a few hours when Stiles brought out the handcuffs he had stolen from his dad's workplace, chaining Liam's wrists down to the metal seats to test the strength. The new beta snapped his wrists in an upward motion, nodding when they didn't break off or weaken.

Isaac was sat on the other side of him, bored as hell, Harper on the other. In the opposite seats were Stiles and Derek, the latter bringing out something from his pocket.

"I brought something for you," he said, holding it out, "this has been with my family for centuries. It's a very powerful supernatural talisman. We use it to teach betas control on a full moon."

Liam accepted the circular talisman that had the same symbol on Derek's back imprinted into it. Isaac had been looking at in disbelief, a small scoff escaping his lips. Derek glared.

"Yes," Isaac lied, "very powerful." He cleared his throat, "very, very powerful."

Harper glanced down at her ring- the one wrapped around her finger that she carried everywhere. With her left hand, she began to spin it around, studying her surname carved delicately into the back. She'd noticed the way Isaac and Stiles had reacted to Derek's talisman, clearly not believing in it.

It had never crossed Harper's mind that her ring may not be powerful at all and that maybe she had just fallen for the placebo effect. Stiles noticed the way she was looking at the jewellery and he could practically read her mind, but he said nothing.

Truth be told, Stiles didn't believe that it was the ring giving Harper control. He believed that she thought it was the ring, but in actual fact, it had been her the entire time. The Stilinski boy never said anything since she had believed in it so much that he didn't want to take that control away.

Harper's eyes drifted up to meet his hazel ones and she pursed her lips. Maybe she was stronger than she thought.

...

LIAM WAS PANTING, clearly starting to feel the effects of the full moon that was now high up in the night sky. Everybody was relaxed since he seemed to have some control, until suddenly his claws snapped out, his grip on Derek's talisman tightening. Stiles jolted spastically while Harper shifted away from him a little, not wanting to be in arm's length.

"Whatever you're going to teach me," Liam heaved, sweat clinging to his pale skin as his eyes flickered gold, "I think you better start."

"We have a mantra that we use," Derek rushed to explain, "you repeat it, you focus on the words. It's like meditating. You say the words until you find the control coming back to you."

"Okay!" Liam grunted in pain, his body jumping up, the handcuffs rattling, "okay, okay. What are the words?"

"Okay, look at the triskelions. See the symbol?" Derek continued, "I have a tattoo on my back, it's the same thing. Each spiral means something."

Stiles remembered, "alpha, beta, omega."

"It represents the idea that we can always rise to one and fall back to another. Betas can become Alphas."

"Alphas can become Betas," Isaac nodded, but Harper offered no input, feeling like her soothing words wouldn't be so useful when Liam was all riled up.

"Can Alphas become Omegas?" Liam panted.

Derek nodded, "all you have to do is say the three words. And with each one, you tell yourself that you're getting calmer, more in control. Go ahead."

Liam gave it a shot, his breathing still heavy as he muttered the words quickly.

"Slower."

"Alpha... Beta... Omega," he tried, grunting loudly, his wrists pulling on the metal harder, "Alpha... Beta... Omega."

"Good, say it again," encouraged the oldest, "remember, every time you says those words, you're getting calmer."

Harper could feel that it was not working for Liam. Enough sweat poured off his body to probably fill a bucket or two and he showed no signs of calming down. The Empath sensed his stress, making her gulp. She was worried that the back of the van was going to turn into a blood bath any minute.

"Alpha... Beta..." Liam's voice began to come out demonically.

Stiles' boyfriend instincts came out as he grabbed Harper, pulling her away from Liam's side and tucking her right next to him so she was furthest away. The brunette didn't complain that she was being slightly babied- she was just as scared as he was. Stiles had moved his legs up onto the seats while Isaac remained next to Liam, probably the strongest one there now that Derek seemed to be losing his werewolf powers.

Scott had never been this bad, but then again, Scott didn't have an anger disorder that made him go mad on normal days.

"Say it again," Derek ordered firmly.

"It's not working, Derek," Harper finally spoke up, "I can feel him... He's about to lose it."

As if on cue, loud growls came from Liam- only getting louder as his eyes flashed gold and his fangs came out. Isaac yelled his name as he lurched forwards, trying to attack Derek and making the whole van tilt. Harper cried out as the van swivelled, Isaac trying to hold Liam's arms down the best he could.

Stiles grabbed a tight hold on Harper as one of the handcuffs around Liam's wrists snapped, setting him free. Isaac managed to hold his claws away, but Liam kept trying to get the other members sat around him.

"Derek?" Braeden shrieked from the front.

"I think we're gonna need to go a little faster!" Stiles warned.

"We're almost there."

Suddenly, the other handcuff came undone, allowing Liam to fully roam. His clawed hands wrapped around Derek's neck, masculine yells coming from all of the boys while Harper grunted, helping Stiles and Isaac in getting Liam off.

"Derek, you need to try something else! Another mantra or something!" Harper pleaded, desperate to make sure the freshman wouldn't be also a murderer in the next few minutes.

"You know any others?" Derek yelled above all the noise.

"I do," Isaac panted, managing to shove Liam back a little more, " Liam. What three things can not long be hidden?"

It seemed that the beta almost gained control for a second, but he immediately turned back around, his roar echoing through the van and sending vibrations through Harper's body.

"Liam!" Isaac yelled for his attention, "listen to me! What three things cannot long be hidden? What three things?"

He thought for a moment, and Harper immediately noticed that he wasn't pushing against them as much.

"Sun... the moon... the truth," Liam grunted, his hand slipping away from Derek's throat and his claws starting to slide back, "sun, the moon, the truth."

Everybody released him as he returned to his seat, still panting and sweating but now in control. Harper breathed a sigh of relief and she slumped back into her corner.

"Derek?" Braeden looked back hesitantly.

"We're okay," he breathed while Liam continued with the quiet chants, "we're okay."

A few minutes later, Liam was chuckling, "I can't believe I did it. You know, for a minute there, I thought I was going to tear the four of you apart."

"Yeah, it would have made for an awkward ride home, so thanks," Stiles gave him a short nod which made Harper smile slightly.

Derek ignored the sarcasm, "think you can bring the same level of control and strength inside La Iglesia?"

In response, Liam flicked his hand out, his claws immediately becoming present.

"Good," she murmured, "we can do this. We can do this."

Nodding in agreement, Derek opened the back doors of the van. It seemed that the brunette had spoken far too soon because as soon as he glanced up, a Beserker had grabbed him by the jacket and flung him across the sand.

"Oh, bloody hell," Harper whispered as Isaac rushed straight past her to help his alpha.

Before he could get there, Braeden had already pulled out a shotgun, shooting at the beast that was beating down on Derek's chest. Harper grabbed Stiles' wrist as they hovered by the doors, waiting for the Beserker to run away before they jumped out.

Peter had already run over to his nephew who was coughing up, apparently having been stabbed by the monster. Braeden held his shoulders as Derek withered in pain, blood staining his pearly white teeth and spilling from his lips.

Her hand moved to cover her mouth and Stiles' eyes had widened significantly from beside her. Harper could sense the panic and sadness coming from around her- an indicator that most believed Derek was not about to survive this.

"How bad is it?" Peter demanded.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Derek called far too quickly, his voice shaking, "ju-just get to Scott. Just find him. We'll be right behind you. Go." When nobody moved, he yelled louder, "go!"

Peter hesitated before running first, right into the mouth of the rundown church. Liam and Malia followed, leaving Stiles and Harper behind. Both were too stunned to move or speak, unable to comprehend the fact that Derek Hale of all people was dying right in front of them.

Sure, the three hadn't had a very healthy relationship- it had been a lot of threatening, head-bashing, claws-to-throats, but at the end of the day, Derek had come through for the pair more times than they could probably count, and they'd done the same for him too. Especially during their sophomore year.

"Save him," Derek whispered, looking between the couple before grunting, his head falling back in agony.

Harper and Stiles started to move in the direction everybody else had gone in, but Stiles turned around, watching Derek one last time. Gently, Harper grasped his hand.

"I know," her voice was barely above a whisper, cracking slightly, "I know."

She squeezed his hand and they took off, ready to save Scott and Kira. Unfortunately, the sacrifice would have to be Derek.

Isaac stood there still, his blue eyes watering, "Derek."

"Isaac," he wheezed, "Isaac this is what I bit you for. Do your part."

The beta sent a sad nod in his direction. Isaac knew one thing for sure- he was going to avenge Derek Hale.


	23. Chapter 23

THEY WERE RUNNING, but they didn't know where to. It seemed that watching Derek so close to death had given the teenagers adrenaline, chasing straight behind Peter with determination to complete what they had set out to do- find Scott and Kira.

Peter whirled around, holding his hands out and making Isaac collide with his chest. The younger werewolf grunted, appearing annoyed by the sudden delay.

"Okay, stop, stop!" He yelled out to all of them, "we gotta figure out where we are, then we gotta figure out how to find Scott and Kira."

Harper's phone began to ring, making Peter glare harder at her. She rolled her eyes at him, wondering why he held such a grudge against her when it should be the other way around. He was the one that had bitten her, manipulated her into taking Lydia out onto the field and then proceeded to terrorise her and her friends.

"How do you even have service down here?" Stiles muttered from beside her as she pulled the phone out her pocket, "is that my dad calling you?"

The brunette nodded, putting him on speaker so that Stiles could hear too. She guessed he was after her since Stiles' phone wasn't working under the tunnels of the rundown church.

"Harper?" He sounded mad, "are you with Stiles?"

"Yes," she squeaked as they moved into a corner, away from everyone else.

"In Mexico?!"

"Okay, dad, I know you're angry-" Stiles began.

The older man scoffed, "oh, I'm beyond angry. I have reached a level of fury that you could not possibly comprehend."

"Okay, well, when I get back you can ground me," Stiles spoke simply.

"Ground you?" Sheriff Stilinski mocked, "ground you? I am going to hobble you! Harper Verum, you are lucky I am not your legal guardian right now."

Harper bit her lip, looking up at Stiles guiltily who just shrugged back at her as if amused by the situation.

"Now, please tell me that you two are all right," his voice softened, a sigh escaping his lips, "tell me that you're safe."

Stiles hesitated, "you want us to lie?"

"Okay," Sheriff Stilinski gulped, "okay. Tell me what I can do. Tell me how I can help."

"Look for Lydia," Harper spoke up again, "she's at the school."

Stiles agreed, "yeah, or she was at the school when we sent Mason to go look for her. So far we haven't heard anything back from either of them. I don't know, dad. I don't know what I'm doing, I'm just... I'm just trying to save my friends."

"Okay," his dad replied, "I'll find Lydia and Mason. You find Scott and Kira. You save your friends."

"Dad, if it's one of the Beserkers at the school you're gonna need firepower, and a lot of it."

Stiles and his dad shared a quick goodbye before Harper took the phone back off of him and put it back safely in her pocket. They approached the rest of the group where Liam was bouncing on his heels nervously.

"What do we do now?" The beta asked.

Malia, who was next to him, went to reply, only for her eyes to catch sight of something near Liam. Her hand went to grab the back of his neck and she shoved him down.

"Duck!" She cried as a Berserker swung for them, only just missing.

"Go!" Peter yelled, taking off in the direction that they had been going, everybody following close behind, "go, go, go, go!"

Harper ran as fast as her short legs would carry her, her shoes hitting against the uneven ground beneath her painfully. She daren't look behind her as she ran alongside her boyfriend, knowing that the two werewolves and the werecoyote were right there. The Berserker chased them, grunting lowly, it's bones rattling with every move it made.

They made it to a clearing when Peter suddenly disappeared, making Stiles and Harper whirl around. Malia chucked the sword she had been carrying at Stiles who caught it with a small 'humpf'. Isaac, Malia and Liam had turned to face the thing, claws and fangs already out.

"Go find Kira and Scott," Malia commanded.

The couple took off again, Stiles very uncomfortable with the weapon in his hand. Once they were sure they were far away from the fighting, Harper reached into her other pocket and pulled out a flashlight, switching it on.

She lead the way, Stiles so close behind her that she could feel his warmth on her back. He yelled out for their two friends every now and then, cautiously looking around for any more of the creatures. If one of them tried to attack the pair, they were screwed. They had no defences like the others did- nothing.

"Scott!" Harper tried again, "Kira!"

They halted when they heard small breaths from the opening that they had entered. Stiles immediately reached out and grabbed Harper's arm, pulling her back so that she was pressed against his chest. Harper raised the flashlight, the two of them letting out a sigh of relief at a wounded but alive Kira Yukimura.

"Kira," Harper sighed while Stiles moved over, asking if she was okay.

"It's Scott," the Japanese girl ignored his question, "guys, it's Scott."

Harper swallowed anxiously, "what happened to him?"

Stiles' eyes were also wider than usual, his heart hammering as he waited for the news on his best friend. If anything happened to Scott, both teenagers didn't know what they would do. If it wasn't for him, none of them would even be friends.

"The Berserker. It's him. Kate did it," Kira explained shakily.

"What are you talking about?" Stiles blurted.

She continued, "she made him into one of them. I don't know how, but it's him. And if they don't know it, they could kill him."

Stiles thought for a second, "that's why Lydia's not here," he realised, "they won't know they're killing Scott."

The thought of her friends murdering the kindest boy she had ever met made her heart begin to physically hurt in her chest and immediately she took off running in the direction that they came in. Stiles cried out her name, following right behind.

They made it back to where the fight was happening, both freezing when they saw Peter throw a sharp object at Malia and order her to stab it in the skull.

"Malia, no!" Harper screamed, but she was already flying through the air.

Kira's sword swiped out and managed to chop the blade right in half, making Malia stare at the girl in confusion.

"It's Scott," Stiles gulped as Liam and Isaac struggled to keep the beast pinned to the wall, "it's Scott."

Scott growled before chucking Isaac to the floor and punching Malia right in the face. The werecoyote slammed to the rubbled ground with a groan, watching helplessly as Scott began to advance towards Liam who had fallen. The beta started scrambling back on his hands and feet, never looking away from the beast.

"Scott, stop!" Harper cried at the same time as Stiles attempted to calm him, "Scott, it's me!"

The Berserker, who acted nothing like the real Scott, swung his arm out and hit Stiles in the chest, making him fall to the ground and take Harper down with him. He landed on top of her, making both of them groan.

"Genius," Harper muttered sarcastically, ignoring the wind that had been knocked out of her as they looked up, finding Scott bashing Liam repeatedly into the wall.

"Scott, don't!" Kira yelled as pieces of the wall crumbled.

"Scott," Liam whimpered as he was pinned up by the neck, about to be strangled to death.

Among all of the fear and pain Harper was experiencing from everyone in the room, she felt a hint of satisfaction. Her mind was elsewhere as Stiles helped her off of the ground, her brown eyes darting around for the owner of the feeling. They landed on Peter- the only one trying not to help. He looked eerily calm, making her heart drop.

As Scott lifted one arm, Liam began to plead.

"Scott, Scott, listen, listen, listen!" The blue-eyed boy cried, breathing heavily, "you're not a monster! You're a werewolf, like me."

Everyone watched silently as Scott's arm began to lower, as well as his grip on Liam. He began to back away, holding the skull around his head before pulling the armour that made him unrecognisable off one by one- finishing with the skull. As he tore it in half with his bare hands, a golden light shone through the cracks, almost blinding the rest of the pack.

Scott released what sounded like a mixture of a scream and a roar, the noise bouncing off all of the walls in the church and making everybody's chests rattle. He stood there panting in full werewolf form, his red eyes landing on Peter.

"You," he muttered bitterly, although the other werewolf didn't react to being called out, "the only one who knew as much as Argent about Berserkers. About the Nagual. You taught Kate- you helped her. All for power."

"For my family's power," Peter corrected him furiously, "to be rightfully inherited by me. Not usurped by some idiot teenage boy, so incorruptible, he wouldn't shed the blood of his enemies even when justified. You don't deserve your power. Not power like this."

Horrified, Harper and the rest of the pack watched as Peter began to transform. His eyes shone to an unnatural blue, movements in his face making his entire neck crane. Malia stumbled away from her father, watching as he changed back into a werewolf. She growled at him, but he roared back and threw her across the room.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, we'll talk about this later," Peter mocked just as Isaac ran up to him, furious.

The werewolf managed to get a hit in the stomach in, sending Peter back the tiniest fraction, but Peter swung out, slicing Isaac in the chest and kicking him back so he landed near his girlfriend. He groaned loudly, moving onto his knees as he coughed.

Swinging her sword, Kira prepared for a third attempt, only to get cut off by Scott yelling her name. She paused, allowing Scott to do what he had to do.

"You were my beta first, Scott," Peter reminded him, his voice slightly muffled by the large fangs he had hidden in his mouth, "it was my bite that changed your life. And my bite that can end it."

"Then end it, Peter," Scott dared without hesitation, "because you won't get another chance."

Peter released a mighty growl before running at him in the air, Scott doing the same. They met halfway, sending them both to the ground. Harper watched anxiously as Scott bounced back up, swiping for Peter. The older werewolf managed to block all of his blows, much to her dismay.

Grunts came from Scott every time he was struck which seemed to be a lot. Peter was flinging him around like he was some sort of rag doll and somehow Scott hadn't even landed a punch yet.

"Come on!" Peter kept yelling at him as he slammed him up against a wall, "come on! Fight like an Alpha!"

Scott grabbed Peter either side of the head, Peter swinging him around. Instead of bashing into the wall again, Scott kicked his legs up and half-ran up it, managing to jump back down onto the older man. He took back some control, releasing Peter against the wall so his body smacked to the floor.

"Finally," Stiles released a small sigh of relief from where he had ducked behind an ivy-covered pillar, his arm around Harper's front as some sort of reassurance.

Staring at the man laying on the floor for a second, Scott only grew angrier and began to land punches on Peter's chest that no human would ever survive. Peter grunted loudly as Scott picked him up, but headbutted the teenage boy. Eventually, after a couple more punches, the True Alpha was back on the floor.

"You want to beat me?" Peter seethed, "you're going to have to kill me!"

He tossed Scott so hard across the room that his body collided more towards the cieling than the floor. Liam moved forwards, but Peter threw what looked like a bench at him, the wood luckily shattering on some pillars and missing the freshman. Scott's lips parted as he watched, feeling furious that Peter would try to go after one of his friends.

Now, Scott started to block every punch what looked like effortlessly. Harper felt hope building up in her system once again, her grip on Stiles' arm wrapped around her tightening. The pack began to realise that they were going to win, everybody watching eagerly as Scott made Peter go flying across the room before he jumped onto a table, glaring down at him.

"You were never an Alpha, Peter," Scott spoke calmly, "but you were always a monster."

And then, with one final punch, Peter was out like a light. Everybody began to come out of their hiding places, watching Scott as he stood there, panting heavily.

It was over- and for real this time.

...

THE JOURNEY BACK was much better than the journey to Mexico. For starters, they had got what they had come here for- Scott and Kira were alive and well, and secondly, Liam wasn't trying to scrape their eyeballs out of their heads again. They had also discovered that Derek wasn't dead, he had been losing his powers because he had been evolving. Apparently now he could turn into a proper wolf, which Harper thought was pretty cool.

However, it didn't seem like he would be returning to Beacon Hills any time soon, which made the pack feel a bit crappy. Derek had been their mentor since sophomore year, but personally, Harper was just happy that he was happy- finally. She'd meant it when she told him that he deserved better, and now he was more powerful than ever, and he had Braeden by his side.

Once they'd arrived back home, Stiles and Harper went to the Sheriff's office, finding the man himself right where they expected him to be.

"Dad," Stiles breathed as he grabbed his father into a bone-crushing hug, "you smell terrible."

"Yep, you do, too," Noah grunted before turning to look at Harper, "get right here, Verum."

Stiles grinned at her as she smiled, walking into both their arms. It was the second Stilinski sandwich she had been in in the course of two days, not that she was complaining. She loved both of them so much. As much as Harper adored Melissa, it seemed that there was something about Noah that made him feel like actual family- and it was a feeling she couldn't get enough of.

"I'm just glad you're both safe," he admitted as they pulled apart, "hey, what do you say we get out of here and get something to eat?"

"Great!" Stiles beamed enthusiastically, "I'm starving!"

Noah placed his hand on Harper's back and began to guide her out of the office, Stiles moving to follow only for a pressure on his wrist to pull him back. He grunted when he realised his father had somehow managed to handcuff him to the desk during their hug, quickly looking back at Harper and his dad with wide eyes.

"Yo, daddy," he called as Harper looked over her shoulder, snorting.

"The only reason you're not with him is that I'm not your legal guardian," he reminded her, ignoring Stiles as he yelled for them, "and I guess I don't have to even ask what your favourite food is, right?"

Harper snickered, "clearly I spend too much time around your house."

"No, no, you're a good influence," he continued to ignore Stiles, "so is Scott. Maybe it's Melissa that should stop Stiles coming over."

Harper chuckled as Stiles called, "hey! Bring me back some prawn crackers?"

...

"YOU'RE REALLY LETTING me use Roscoe for this?" Harper swallowed anxiously as she sat in the driver's seat of Stiles' jeep, glancing over at Stiles who was sat in her usual place, "Melissa said she'd let me borrow her car again."

Her hands were gripping the wheel so hard that her knuckles had gone white, making Stiles chuckle and shake his head. Leaning across, he gently pried her fingers off and put them in the right places loosely. She straightened her back.

"If you learn how to drive Roscoe, you can learn how to drive anything," Stiles insisted, "besides, I trust you, okay?"

Harper gulped for the second time, looking around the empty car park they were in as if she was already driving. They'd had to move the seat in close for her short legs, and she looked so out of place behind a wheel. Stiles thought she looked almost adorable.

"What if I crash?"

"You won't," he rolled his eyes.

"What if I forget which one is the brake and which one is the accelerator, and you tell me to hit the brake, but I hit the wrong one, and then we crash-"

Stiles placed his hand down on her thigh, looking into her eyes with as much sincerity as he could muster.

"You are not going to crash, okay?" He rubbed soothing circles on her bare legs, just below where her shorts ended, "I'm gonna guide you and you're gonna concentrate and this is all going to work out fine. Besides, you've been practising with Melissa for a couple of months now, right? Your test is next week and you're gonna ace it, I swear."

Harper nodded, trying to process his words so they'd stick in her head and she'd actually follow them. She was a late bloomer when it came to the whole driving thing. She had no excuse like Malia, just the fact that her grandma didn't think she needed driving lessons at sixteen. The legal age was higher in England, and so the woman never really thought much about it.

The brunette began to do what she had already been taught, her hands feeling really out of place on the steering wheel of Stiles' car. She'd pretended to drive it a couple of times when they were sixteen, but now that she was actually doing it, it felt strange. Stiles was grinning at her as she drove around, biting on her lip every now and then when she grew nervous.

"You're doing so well!" Her boyfriend smiled at her.

Harper blushed a little, "feels weird driving you when it's been the other way round for almost two years now."

Stiles scoffed, leaning back in the seat and placing his hands behind his head, "I could get used to this."

"Dork."

"I love you too."


	24. Chapter 24

The past six months had been total bliss for Harper Verum. For the first time in two years, not a single supernatural occurrence had taken place— as long as you don't count last month when Liam Dunbar lost it on the full moon and ran around Beacon Hills stark naked.

In particular, the last three months had been the best. Unlike all of her previous summers, Harper didn't go back to England. Instead, she spent her first full summer in California. The heat was a lot, but she wasn't complaining.

She, Stiles Stilinski, and Scott McCall had all gone on a road trip to kickstart their vacation. While Kira and Malia had gone away, Isaac had straight up refused to spend hours in the jeep with Stiles, and Lydia 'didn't feel like it', so it was just the terrific trio— not that they were complaining.

Harper had never laughed as hard as she did for the week that they were away. With no supernatural threats looming over them, the three teenagers were as laidback as they had been before Scott was bitten by Peter Hale in the woods that night.

Now, all Harper had to remind her of the summer was the gorgeous tan on her skin and the polaroids that she had pinned to her notice board. The amount on it was excessive, lots from years ago being covered by new ones, but she didn't mind. She thought the clutter looked kind of nice against the rest of her room which was pretty pristine.

Today was the last day of summer vacation, and the weather matched her mood for it. The Empath couldn't remember the last time she saw a storm like this. No rain had fallen yet, but thunder and lightning did their thing in the sky and the wind had blown so hard that trees that had been in the ground for hundreds of years had tipped onto roads. Plus, the worst part— she had no service.

The Senior Scribe was at midnight, much to the bags under her eyes' dismay, and while she had considered skipping it, Stiles had insisted she didn't. In fact, he'd threatened to 'drag her cute ass out of bed' if he came over and found out she was asleep.

Harper was lounging around on her bed, Archie by her side. She stroked his red fur, frowning as she tapped the screen of her phone harshly, huffing when her text didn't send for the fiftieth time.

Isaac poked his head around the corner of her door, a small grin on his face as he held his helmet tucked under his arm.

"I'm going to go pick Malia up," he told her, "I'd offer to give you a ride to the school, but once I get her there won't be enough room on my bike."

Chuckling, Harper shook her head. "It's fine," she insisted, "Stiles and Scott are picking me up later anyway."

"Where'd they go?"

"The woods," the brunette girl shrugged, "I didn't feel like it with the storm going on, you know?"

Isaac nodded his head in agreement, his honey curls bouncing on top of his head as he said a quick goodbye before bounding down the stairs— excited to see his girlfriend.

Nobody had seen Malia since summer started since she had been forced to go to some summer school on the other side of California, due to the fact that her grades weren't good enough last year. Kira had also gone to New York with her parents, meaning Scott spent the most of the summer with the other werewolf while Harper and Stiles did... whatever they were doing.

Lydia had kept herself busy, picking up a couple of new languages and hanging around Deputy Parrish a lot. She and Harper went to the mall a couple of times and hung out in between, and Harper was guessing that the strawberry blonde's feelings for her were starting to fade into something more platonic.

"Scott, Harper, Isaac," the brunette heard a door slam and Mellisa yell out, "I'm home, but I have to rush out again. The hospital has called everybody back in!"

Harper shifted off of the bed and started to make her way downstairs, smiling sheepishly at the woman who was frantically moving around, trying to grab her new work clothes.

"Dinner's in the fridge," her voice lowered when she saw her foster daughter in the door way. She pulled open the fridge door, her face dropping, "there's nothing in the fridge. I'll leave you all money to order in."

"Don't worry about it, Melissa," Harper spoke softly, moving over to where the fruit bowl was and taking an apple, "we're all going to the Senior Scribe tonight, remember?"

Melissa's face lit up in recognition before it dropped in confusion. "Why aren't you at the high school?"

"Stiles is late," Harper sighed, "it's probably cause of the weather, but I'm just gonna drive myself in a minute."

The Hispanic woman sent her a smile, "well have fun, and don't stay out too late. Okay?"

"Okay."

...

"Stiles, it's fine, I'm gonna make it, okay?" Harper sighed from where she was on the phone with her boyfriend.

He sighed back louder, "you can't drive. There's a build up on the roads because of the storm, I don't think Kira's gonna make it either. Scott just left to go get her."

The sound of the front door slamming made her straighten up.

"Yeah, I think he just got here," Harper began to leave her room, swiping her keys up off of the desk first.

A heavy pause came from the other end before Stiles hissed, "Harper, wait."

"What?" The brunette mumbled as she began making her way down the stairs.

"Scott only just left," Stiles panicked, "are you sure it's not Melissa?"

Harper swallowed, keeping still from where she was half way up the stairs. The door was shut from where she could see, but she wasn't sure if the person had come in or left.

"It could be Isaac?" She suggested hopefully.

"Isaac's with Malia and I at the hospital."

"Oh, bloody hell."

Stiles' voice began to grow static on the other side, making Harper pull her phone away with a frown. She winced as only a high pitched noise came through, her heart skipping a beat as the front door swung open again.

Much to her relief, Scott entered, smiling when he saw her. "Hey. I was just coming to get you and Kira."

Harper swallowed thickly, "Scott, I think someone was in the house."

Scott's face turned serious and he lifted his nose to the air, trying to catch a scent. He slowly began to move into the kitchen so Harper followed, her eyes darting around for any sudden movements.

"Look," he bent down and picked up the note he had left for his mother, "claw marks?"

There were four small holes printed into the paper, and on the floor laid all of the magnets off of the fridge.

"Those were on earlier," Harper swore, bending down and picking one up.

She tried to stick it back to the door, but it fell back down, not connecting. Looking at Scott, she noticed his eyes weren't on her but the clock on the wall that was flicking back and forth between times.

Thunder rumbled from outside and a cluttering noise came from right behind Harper. She gasped, whirling around to find the magnets back in place on the fridge.

"Scott..." she shook her head, "please tell me ghosts aren't real."

The Alpha frowned but gave no verbal response when suddenly the house made a rumbling noise and began to shake. Shrieking, the brunette tried to grab hold of the counter nearest to her, but Scott grabbed her by the arms, tugging her into his chest.

Bowls and plates shattered on the floor and chairs knocked over, but it only lasted ten seconds. Once it was over, Harper and Scott were both looking around with wide eyes. The clock on the microwave began to beep.

12:00am.

...

Scott decided that whatever had happened must have been a one off because of the storm and said that it was best to ignore it. Maybe it was because Harper really wanted to believe him that she went along with it, but the next thing she knew she was dressed in her yellow rain coat and running through the streets.

The Alpha had gone to get Kira, however Harper didn't want to waste anymore time. The Senior Scribe was important to Stiles, for whatever reason that may be, and she needed to be there. Since the roads were blocked, she settled on the next best thing- running.

"Stiles better be so grateful for this," she huffed as she made it around the corner.

Standing under a canopy was the boy himself, distanced away from Malia and Isaac who were practically tearing each other's clothes off against one of the pillars. He wore an anxious expression on his face, though it was shoved in his phone as he texted quickly. 

"Sti!" She yelled, running over and dropping her hood when she was in the safety of the shelter.

A sigh of relief came from Stiles as he shoved his phone into his back pocket, his hand cupping the back of her head and pulling it towards his. Their lips met in the middle, their eyes closing as she grabbed his plaid shirts with her dainty hands, kissing the life out of him.

"What happened?" He panted once they parted.

"I'm not sure, to be honest," Harper admitted, "but I'm fine now. Where's Scott, Kira and Lydia?"

"I don't know," he replied, his face slightly fallen as he watched their classmates laugh around them, ducking into the rain as if it were no big deal.

"Stiles, I can feel your nerves," she gently clasped his hand, intertwining their fingers, "What's going on in that head of yours?"

Stiles seemed to hesitate before replying, "I asked my dad the other day about his high school friends. Guess how many he still talks to? None. Not a single one. You know, these were his best friends and he just said he lost touch with them. So I started thinking about it, like I always do, and so I'm thinking... what if Scott's my best friend now, but he's not my best friend for life? What if you're my girlfriend now, but you get bored of me later? If I already found the best people in my life, then why aren't I trying to keep them? I don't want us all to go our separate ways."

Harper was pretty stunned by his little rant and she felt slightly guilty that she had no idea he had been thinking like this for the past few days. She had just assumed that he was upset summer was over.

"This is different," the teenage girl cleared her throat.

"How?" He didn't seem to believe her.

"Our friends... we're not just friends," Harper continued, not missing his confused look, "we're a pack. I bet your dad didn't go body hunting with his best friends in his sophomore year, or have his life saved multiple times by them. These aren't some stupid high school friendships that will fade when we leave this building in a few months, Stiles. These are bonds. Bonds we've made for life."

A small pout was present on Stiles' face, and it seemed that Harper's words had struck something inside him. He tried to repeat her words— not just friends, a pack. He was starting to believe it.

"You're wearing the same coat," he mumbled, his face leaning down closer to hers, his slender fingers fiddling with buttons of the yellow material.

"Huh?" She smiled a little, looking up so their noses were dangerously close to brushing.

"Two years ago, this very moment, we were in the woods body hunting," Stiles reminded her, "you wore this coat because you said a storm was coming, and you were right."

"Two years ago, Scott and I were your best friends," Harper held onto his hands that were touching her, "I guarantee in two years it will still be the same. Remember the vision?"

"The vision," he smiled, "you, me, and Scott in an apartment living out our best years together."

Harper nodded, "right. Hold onto that, okay? We still have another year to go."

Smiling still, Stiles leaned down and once again attached their lips. His hand stroked through her brunette waves when suddenly they heard Malia scream Harper's name.

Both teenagers whirled around in a panic, eyes bugging out when they saw Malia had tackled someone to the ground right next to the couple. Upon further inspection, Harper realised it was Liam.

"Why were you going so fast?" Malia exclaimed, taking her hand off of his chest, "you freaked me out!"

Liam was panting, his blue eyes wide. "Scott's in trouble!"

Liam lead the way, the teenagers racing through the school campus despite the rain chucking down like nothing Harper had ever experienced. It splashed up against her legs and chilled her to the bone, but she had bigger concerns.

Isaac, Malia, Liam, Stiles, and Harper made it down the stairs just in time to find Scott being pinned in the air by some massive guy with bright blue claws. He was groaning, his mouth parted widely as if accepting his fate.

The Empath could feel the agony in her stomach, making her stumble back a little. Stiles froze in place, hazel eyes wide and his hand grabbing Harper. She glanced between Scott and the two figures sprawled out across the wet floor— one of which was Kira and the other she had no clue.

The boy on the floor looked up, his eyes flashing gold as he snarled back at Liam. Kira raised her sword and stood back up, ready to attack the massive guy on Scott when Scott's eyes began to glow red.

His hand snapped out to wrap around one of the hands the guy had around his neck, his groans stifling and turning into a roar. With one swift movement, Scott managed to snap the arm of the man that had to be twice the size of him. Harper grimaced at the noise but overall felt relief— Scott was going to be okay.

Scott reached for his own chest, pulling out what looked like claws. He tossed them onto the floor behind him before looking down at the other supernatural creature.

"I don't know who you are or what you thought you were gonna do," Scott seethed, "but I'll give you a choice. You can stay and I'll break something else, or you can run."

The man looked around as if assessing whether or not he could take on the pack. Isaac growled, his eyes flashing gold for emphasis.

"I'd run," Stiles suggested.

So that's what the man did. He hobbled away as quickly as he could, Stiles' hand finally releasing its hold on Harper's arm. The pack of teenagers all moved closer together to stare at the boy who had been by Kira.

His werewolf form had vanished, showing only his human side. Underneath the shelter, his hair looked dark, but his eyes were bright. He shot them all a charming smile, chuckling softly to himself as he started to walk over.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He raised his eyebrows, stopping in front of them, "I guess I look a little different since the fourth grade."

Isaac, Stiles, Scott, and Harper all shared glances. The brunette had only moved to Beacon Hills when she was nine, so she wasn't sure whether she just didn't recognise him or if he had moved by then.

Scott's eyes widened, "Theo?"

It was the latter theory. Harper had no clue who he was because she had never laid eyes on this boy before.

"You know him?" Malia glanced at Isaac cautiously, clearly wondering whether she could trust him or not.

Theo grinned, "they used to. Trust me, I never thought I'd see you guys again. A couple of months ago, I heard of an Alpha in Beacon Hills. When I found out his name was Scott McCall, just couldn't believe it. Not just an Alpha, but a True Alpha."

"What do you want?" Scott pursed his lips.

Harper could sense the distrust between their party and his lone one. After all they had been through, it was hard to figure out who you could trust or not. Even Scott was learning to be more cautious, his eyes scanning Theo's body language.

"I came back to Beacon Hills. Back home with my family," the blue-eyed boy explained, "because I want to be a part of your pack."

...

"We haven't seen this kid in years," Stiles reminded Scott as they pushed open the doors of the school, finally ready to get to the Senior Scribe, "you don't find that highly suspicious?"

Scott shrugged, "I'm more concerned about the guy that just tried to kill me."

Malia's phone buzzed loudly from where she was walking in between Harper and Isaac, making everyone pause. She grabbed her phone and quickly checked the email, her face lighting up.

"I'm in!" She exclaimed gleefully, "I passed. I'm officially a senior."

Isaac smiled with her, reaching down a couple of inches to squeeze his girlfriend into a tight hug. Harper also grinned, giving Malia a celebratory high five. Kira was next, just as a certain strawberry blonde came marching over.

"Oh, thank God!" She sighed, "where have you guys been? The whole senior class is here. Are we doing this or not?"

"Hell yeah!" Harper sang as Stiles wrapped his arm over her shoulder, leading the way to the library.

It was packed with excited students, ready to do their first tradition as seniors- sign one of the bookcases. Everybody was lined up, Stiles first as he accepted the pen from the girl in front of him.

Sticking his tongue out in concentration, the dark-haired boy leaned across the shelf and wrote his initials with the black marker before handing it to Harper with a small smile.

Harper wrote 'H.V' near Stiles' 'S.S', her eyes scanning all of the other words. Most had written their initials as they had, but some had done nicknames or little drawings. She passed the pen to Lydia who wrote her name and handed it to Kira.

"This isn't vandalism, is it?" Kira frowned.

Lydia shrugged, "not technically."

Hesitating, Kira pursed her lips and wrote, giving the pen to Malia. She wrote her 'M' and paused. Harper leaned forwards, waiting to see what letter would come next. A small smile covered her face as Malia scribbled a 'T'.

Isaac went next, putting his letters underneath hers. Scott was last. With a smile, he wrote his initials in block letters. Then, he paused too, his face slowly falling.

Stiles reached out and squeezed Harper's hand as Scott placed Allison Argent's letters under his— a tribute to the girl who had sacrificed everything to save them. He stood back, wrapping his arm around Kira.

"She would have been with us," Isaac frowned, also missing the hunter he had shared a connection with.

"Yeah," Scott swallowed.

Lydia forced a smile, "she still is."

...

Incoherent murmurs escaped Harper's lips, her eyes closed and her brows furrowed as her dainty hands wrapped around her duvet covers, harshly pinching them. Scott stood in the doorway of her bedroom having been checking the house for any more unwanted visitors.

Isaac came walking down the hall, but before he could ask what the Alpha was doing at Harper's door, Scott raised a finger to his lips, warning him to keep silent. The honey-haired boy walked over, staring at the teenage girl who was clearly having a nightmare of some sorts.

"What's she saying?" He whispered.

Scott frowned but didn't reply, straining his ears to hear.

"Prohibere," Harper whispered, sounding like a plea.

"Whatever it is, it's not English."

"Well, it's not German either, and that's the only other language she knows," Isaac scoffed, moving into the room, "I'm waking her up."

"Isaac—"

Not listening to the Alpha, Isaac reached down and shook Harper's shoulders, causing her eyes to snap open. She blinked, her frown deepening when she realised there were two werewolves in her bedroom.

"What's going on?" She sat up, "Did that man come back?"

Scott shook his head worriedly, "you were having a nightmare. Don't you remember it?"

Harper thought back, her eyes suddenly widening as images flashed before her eyes. There was a needle going into her skin, and then she was screaming.

"Stop!" Sobs came from her lips as he back arched against the bed she had been strapped down to, "dad, stop!"

More images of her being escorted down the supernatural unit of Eichen House, and then her dad grinning.

"Finally," Valack sighed, cracking his knuckles, "the experiments can begin."

The whirling of a drill took her into her next scene. Stiles was above her, his hazel eyes shining with tears as he stroked the hair out of her face. Harper appeared almost frozen.

"Tell me, Harper?" He asked gently, his slender hand moving to grasp her wrist harshly, "Did you find out? Did you see what makes you so confusing to them?"

"You're not Stiles," Harper cried, tears falling, "stop."

Her father was in front of her again, a glare on his face as he leaned over her bed.

"You remember this book?" He held one up to her, but she had no chance to see the cover, "I used to read it to you until your mother said it was morbid. This is what made her realise the truth."

"Truth," Harper murmured, "Verum."

"That's right," he smiled.

The next thing she knew, she was in a chair, her father preparing some syringe for her. A scream suddenly ruptured from down the hall, making Harper cry out, her ears starting to bleed.

"What are you doing to her?" She cried, "what are you doing to Lydia? I don't care what you do to me, just don't touch her."

"She sees too much," Valack sighed, "I had to take her before she sees this and goes blabbing to your little pack. She would have seen your death."

Harper shuddered as she snapped out of her state, finding Scott and Isaac watching her with concern in their eyes. She shook her head, forcing a small smile.

"Nightmare, you were right," she admitted, not thinking too much of it as she sighed, "I thought they'd stopped."

"Was... was Allison in this one?" Scott asked, knowing about the strange connection Harper and Lydia had that meant they shared dreams about the deceased hunter.

Harper shook her head, "I haven't seen her in any of my dreams in months."

"Do you think it's a good thing?" Isaac swallowed.

The brunette shrugged again, whispering with a hopeful smile, "maybe it means she's finally at peace." 

...


	25. Chapter 25

SEASON 5A

"So, you ran a background check, and all you found was a speeding ticket?" Malia summarised as she walked up the stairs next to Stiles and Harper.

"Speeding ticket signed by Theo's dad eight years ago," nodded the Stilinski boy.

Harper frowned, "I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with anything, Sti?"

Instead of carrying on the conversation while walking, Stiles paused and turned around, stepping in front of the two teenage girls.

"Who speeds?" He asked and Harper went to open her mouth, but he answered before her. "People trying to get away from something."

"Well, how many tickets do you have?" Malia asked, making the corners of Harper's lips twitch up into a knowing smile.

Stiles didn't think as he lied, "none."

"That's because your dad gets you out of all of them," Harper chuckled, "you have fifteen, if I remember correctly."

The hazel-eyed boy winced, "it's seventeen now."

Malia sent him a pointed look that made him shut his mouth. He looked between both girls, as if desperate for them to say they believed him.

Harper just didn't understand why he hated this boy so much. Theo Raeken seemed okay to her, and he had tried to help Scott— who remembered him. That's not to say she wanted to accept him with open arms, she just thought they should hear him out a little more.

"I don't know, Stiles," huffed the werecoyote, "I mean, I see why you're worried. He's really hot. He's got like great hair, perfect body. You should definitely feel threatened. Every girl's dream."

Harper's brows pulled together while Stiles blinked and began to splutter.

"Yeah, I definitely do. Now more than ever!" He rolled his eyes before looking at his girlfriend, "Do you think he's really hot?"

Harper pursed her lips. "This is a trap."

"No, it's a question," he put on an annoyingly sweet tone, but his eyes said otherwise. He almost looked crazy.

"Well, he's not ugly," the brunette shrugged, "but he's definitely not my type."

Stiles nodded, "good." His jaw was still slightly clenched.

"You want me to torture him?" Malia asked, "I'm pretty sure I can take him."

"No, I do not want you to torture him," Stiles huffed, "I have a plan and there are steps to doing this right."

"A plan?" The Empath repeated.

"We get the story, verify the facts. Find the piece that doesn't fit and... and catch him in the act. That's how you do it," he explained before his eyes drifted behind her head.

Harper turned around to look in his line of vision, seeing Theo climb out of his car and wave at what looked like his dad. As the car pulled away, he turned back around, catching sight of the three teenagers that had been talking about him. His hand raised in a wave, a full on smile covering his face. Harper smiled back slightly out of politeness, raising her hand.

Stiles was glaring at her when she turned back around, making Malia sigh.

"Why are you so suspicious of this guy?" The short-haired girl questioned.

"Because I remember Theo from fourth grade, okay?" Stiles shook his head, "that's not Theo."

...

Harper was almost late to her first class of senior year, which wasn't a great start. While she made it to AP Biology on time, by the time she got there the seats next to her only friends had been taken. Lydia was with a girl named Sydney and of course Scott and Kira sat beside each other.

The strawberry blonde sent her an annoyed look for being late as Harper sighed, looking around for an empty seat. There was only one at the second row at the back and the person next to it happened to Theo Raeken himself.

"Hey," he greeted as she sat down, pulling her books out and placing them in front of her.

Harper didn't say anything but sent him a nod as Mrs Finch walked into the room, making her inwardly groan. She was a good teacher, but about as strict as Harris had been. She didn't carry a sympathetic bone in her body.

"Welcome to AP Biology," Mrs Finch sat down on the edge of her desk, glancing around the room at the faces of her students. "Let's see who's awake. Can somebody tell me what plasmids are?"

Lydia immediately answered, "circular, self-replicating DNA molecules often used in cloning proteins."

"Nicely stated, Lydia," the biology teacher complimented, "Now, can you tell me what vitamin is absorbed in the stomach via parietal cell production of a glycoprotein?"

The strawberry blonde opened her mouth, but nothing came out.

"B-12," Mrs Finch answered, "Mr McCall. Did you know the answer?"

Scott looked up. "Uh, no."

"It's a common test question," the older woman sighed, "What's your number one college pick?"

"Um-"

"Stop saying 'um'."

Harper glanced up from where she had been flicking through her text book, her eyes widening a little at the sharpness of the teacher's tone.

Scott taking this class was a risk due to his previously average grades in Biology, but he was so determined to become a vet that he was willing to work hard. He'd spent a good chunk of his summer studying for this class.

"Sorry. UC Davis."

"Good choice. It's the best school on the West Coast for biological and physical sciences. You're in the right class if that's what you're hoping for," she looked around, "who else thinks they're in the right class?"

Theo was the first to raise his hand as high as he could. Everyone else hesitantly followed.

"Good. Then you should all be prepared for the test tomorrow. Don't be disappointed but the test is specifically to help you determine whether you should actually be in AP Biology. You have two weeks to drop. Tomorrow's test will just weed out the ones who shouldn't be here. And that could be any of you."

Harper chewed on her bottom lip nervously at the thought, making a mental note to go home and study tonight instead of hang out with Stiles as unofficially planned.

"What do you think?" Theo asked as the bell rang at the end of that lesson.

Harper glanced up from where she had been packing her bag. "Pardon?"

His face lit up, "you're from England. So, when did you move here?"

"Same year you left apparently," Harper forced a smile, putting her books into her bag, "when I was nine or ten."

"And you still have the accent?"

"Mhm," Harper confirmed, swinging her bag over her shoulder, "I'm sorry, what did you ask me before?"

"Oh, I was just asking what you thought of AP Biology, and also I didn't catch your name," that charming smile didn't leave his lips.

"It's Harper," she introduced, "and it was okay. It's gonna be a lot of work, I can tell. What about you? What did you think?"

"I think bring it on."

...

"Harper, I'm pissing myself," Scott groaned as he sat on the stairs outside with the brunette, their Biology text books in front of them, "did you see the way Mrs Finch looked at me? Everybody knows I don't belong there."

"Hey," she patted his arm, "all you gotta do to prove yourself is know the stuff that's gonna be in the test tomorrow. If you fail it, you were right. But I have a feeling you won't."

"Hey!" A voice yelled from near the building as Stiles came running over, "you two. You're with me."

Scott glanced up at him, "we have a free period."

"Me too. So does Theo Raeken. Let's go."

Harper didn't bother to ask how he knew that Theo had a free period. She guessed he had gone to the extremes of asking one of the office ladies for his time table. Her boyfriend reached across and grabbed both Harper and Scott's wrists, dragging them back inside the school where they saw Theo by his locker, putting some books away.

"There," Stiles practically growled under his breath before he began to march down the hall, "hey, Theo."

"Hey, Stiles. Scott," Theo smiled as he looked up, sending the two boys a nod. His gaze cast down to the shorter girl and he winked at her, "hey, partner."

Stiles' mouth dropped open, "hold on, did you just wink at her? And what did you call her?" His tone held a level of venom inside it, his hands releasing Harper and Scott to ball up into fists.

The Empath next to him closed her eyes, embarrassed. Scott pursed his lips, knowing fully well once Stiles got riled up there was no stopping him.

"Harper's my partner for AP Biology," the other teenage boy explained, pretending not to notice how angry Stiles had grown in a split second, "is there something I can help you with?"

"Yeah," Scott cut in, releasing a nervous chuckle to ease some of the tension, "can we talk to you? In private and away from everyone else?"

"Sure."

The first private place Scott had thought of was the boys' changing rooms, much to Harper's dismay. Stiles was still fuming with anger as he leant up against the lockers, folding his arms across his chest and glaring at Theo. Harper stood next to him, her shoulder brushing against his body as some sort of silent reassurance.

"Start with how you became a werewolf," Stiles ordered, not missing the way Theo blinked in surprise, "what? You wanna be in the pack, you gotta tell us what we want to know."

"Calm down a little, Sti," Harper murmured as Theo cleared his throat and began his story.

"Okay, so, I was skating in a neighbour's empty pool, trying to do a handplant. Nobody was home. I'm not that good of a skateboarder, but I guess I was feeling pretty determined because I completely lost track of time. I didn't even realise that it was night until the yard lights came on," he explained, looking between the three teenagers as he spoke.

"Like I said, I wasn't very good. On my last try, I went down and hit hard. Really hard. I was sitting there at the bottom of the pool and I realised something," Theo swallowed, "I never heard the board come back down. It came at me fast. I barely had the chance to turn around before it bit me. Right here."

He pointed to his side, looking at Scott now.

"Well, it wasn't an accident," the Alpha nodded, "he wanted to turn you."

"Right, so why aren't you part of his pack then?" Stiles questioned, "why didn't he come back for you?"

"Because by the time of my first moon, he was already dead," Theo answered.

"How do you know he was dead?" Harper folded her arms across her chest, trying to use any Empathetic abilities she had to detect a lie or feel nervousness.

Stiles looked pleased that she was taking part in the interrogation rather than adding to Theo's story like Scott had been doing.

"I met another one of his pack a couple of weeks later," Theo explained, "he told me the Alpha that bit me was killed by two of his own Betas. They were twins."

The couple leaning against the lockers glanced at each other with raised eyebrows, realising that he must have been referring to Ethan and Aiden- the Betas that had killed their Alpha for more power. Theo noticed their judgemental looks and sighed.

"Scott, listen to my pulse," he urged, "I'm telling you the truth."

Finally, Stiles had had enough. The tall boy stepped away from the lockers. "Right, or you just know how to steady your own heart rate while you're lying your ass off."

Scott sent his best friend a look, trying to get him to shut up. It seemed that Scott liked Theo, and Stiles was worried he was letting him into the pack way too soon.

"Why would I lie?" He scoffed.

"Because maybe you're not who you say you are," Stiles guessed.

"Okay," Theo turned to Scott, "in fourth grade you had an inhaler, I had one, too. I remember this day where I ended up in the nurse's office with an asthma attack. A bad one. I was waiting to be taken to the ER, you were waiting for the principal. You told me what would happen when you go to the ER with asthma. How they give you oxygen and an IV of prednisone."

The Stilinski boy closed his eyes when he realised how soft Scott was being, subtly shaking his head. Harper had her head tilted to the side, not knowing whether to believe him or not. After all, she wasn't there at the start of fourth grade- she had no idea if this was the 'real Theo' or not. 

"You made it sound so easy," he smiled, "like everything would be okay. I've been by myself this whole time. Everybody knows that lone wolves, they don't make it on their own. I swear, I'm that same kid from fourth grade. I was hoping you are, too."

Harper, who had been silently assessing his emotions while he spoke, raised her dark eyebrows when the bell rang. Sighing loudly, Theo turned around and picked up his backpack, hauling it over his shoulder.

"I better not be late for class," the dark blonde said, "you're not the only ones I need to make a good impression on."

Scott smiled at him as he left the room. As soon as the door swung shut behind him, Scott tilted his head at Stiles. The hazel-eyed boy rolled his eyes.

"Don't give me that look," he grumbled.

"We have to give people the benefit of the doubt sometimes," Scott reminded him.

"Not this time, all right? There's something off about him, I can feel it," Stiles exclaimed.

"Lydia and Harper are the ones that sense things, not you."

Stiles turned around to face Harper, "what did you sense?"

She shrugged, "to be honest... Not much of anything."

Stiles groaned while Scott sent him a smug look, leaving the room. Her boyfriend went to follow but Harper grabbed his arm, pulling him back. He looked down at her, confused.

"By not much of anything, I mean it," she sighed, "Theo wasn't nervous, he wasn't mad... And when he was talking to Scott about their little moment in the nurse's office, I expected some feeling of... I don't know, happiness? But there was nothing."

"Nothing," Stiles repeated in a hum, squeezing her hand as a thank you, "I can work with that. So he's a sociopath?"

"He's something, that's for sure."

Stiles grinned now that he had one other person on his side- even better that it was Harper.


	26. Chapter 26

"No, Scott, you're doing it all wrong," Kira sighed from next to her boyfriend, gently taking the pencil from his hand and erasing the mistake he had made.

Scott groaned from where he sat at the head of the table, watching as Kira sketched out the diagram correctly. Malia raised her eyebrows from where she was sat with Isaac, the two of them having no idea why anybody would put themselves through the pain of AP Biology.

Harper was opposite the newest couple, her earplugs in as she tapped her pencil on the edge of the table, concentrating on the work in front of her while listening to her newest playlist.

A hand clamped down on her shoulder, making her practically jump out of her skin. The gasp that came from her lips made someone turn around and shush her— saying something about the library rules.

She glanced up, glaring slightly at Stiles who was leaning across her to slap something in the middle of the table. Everybody leaned closer to get a better look.

"So you found something?" Scott sounded surprised.

"Another signature," Stiles confirmed as Harper pulled her earplugs out, putting them next to the book she had been copying notes into, "this is Theo's dad's signature on a speeding ticket eight years ago."

He pointed at the other piece of paper. "Now this is his dad's signature on a transfer form to Beacon Hills High School from just a few days ago."

Harper frowned, "how did you get his transfer form?"

Scott looked at him disappointedly. "Did you break into the Administration Office?"

Stiles felt a little offended that his two best friends were ganging up on him, but to fair they had all the reasons to— it was true, after all.

"No, I did not break into the Administration Office," he lied, breaking as Scott raised his eyebrows at him, "okay. I might have broken into the Administration Office— can we just focus on the signatures please?"

"What about them?" Isaac scoffed, taking his arm away from where it had been on Malia's chair to cross against the table as he leaned forwards.

"They're different," Stiles insisted.

Malia pursed her lips after staring at them for a few moments. "They're sort of different."

"They're completely different!" The Stilinski boy exclaimed, "come on. Look. The garlands don't even match, the undulations f the sinuous stroke totally off. And look- look at this. Perfect example of the Criminal Tremor."

Harper's lips were partly agape while everybody else looked at him like he was crazy. Maybe he was.

"Stiles, that wasn't even English," his girlfriend exaggerated, "and why are you looking into his parents now?"

"Someone's not someone," he muttered, "and when I figure out who that someone really is, someone's in big trouble."

Scott sighed, "but no one's done anything wrong."

"Yet!" Stiles scoffed, "if Theo's parents are both psychotic killers then obviously we should not trust him, right?"

"My parents are Peter and the Desert Wolf," Malia cut in.

Harper nodded. "Yeah, and my dad murdered my mum and probably a bunch of other supernatural creatures."

Everybody glanced to Stiles from the two girls expectantly, Scott raising his eyebrows to see what the hazel-eyed boy had to say for himself now.

Stiles began to rub his forehead, clearly stressed. "Harper, I thought you were on my side?"

The brunette shrugged, "I'm leaning towards it. I was just saying."

Scott glanced at her disappointedly.

"Okay. It's fine. You know what? I'll just figure this out myself, all right?" Stiles picked up the paper, pointing at his friends, "I don't need you or you or you or you."

He paused at Harper, his lips scrunching up as if he couldn't even force himself to say it. Harper grinned at him playfully, amused by his mood. He sighed, reaching down and grabbing her books.

"But I do need you. Come on," he began to make his way out of the library.

"You two make me sick!" Isaac yelled as she rushed after him, making the kid from before hush the group once again, "you shut up, Greenberg."

...

While Stiles' biggest problem of the evening was whether Theo was really Theo from fourth grade or not, Harper's issue was the Biology exam that she had in the morning. It almost felt refreshing to her, in a strange way, to be worried about something that wasn't based around the supernatural.

Stiles had been a little annoyed when she told him he had to spy on Theo alone, but she knew that deep down he understood how important getting these grades were to her. So, he took Liam instead- who was reluctant but also pretty excited to be involved in something.

The Empath was sprawled out across Scott's bed, a textbook in front of her as Scott sat at his desk, rubbing his forehead every now and then. Stress poured off of him like steam, wafting over to Harper who couldn't help but acknowledge it.

"Why did I take AP Biology?" Scott groaned, leaning back and throwing his pencil onto the desk so that it clattered loudly.

Harper jumped a little but smiled weakly. "Because you want to be a vet."

Scott nodded with a sigh. "Why can't it be easier though?" He complained, "it's like they want us to fail."

"Ha," the brunette chuckled a little and shook her head, "I'm pretty sure that the only people that are gonna pass it are Lydia and maybe Theo."

"Theo?"

Harper hummed, "he seemed pretty sure he was gonna pass today in class. I don't know if he's just cocky or what."

"I think I know which one Stiles would think," the werewolf teased, "what is it with him these past couple of days? He refuses to believe there's even a spark of good in Theo."

Harper shrugged back. "You know what Stiles is like when he believes in something- he refuses to let it go. I kind of admire that about him though. No matter how many people tell him he's wrong, he always stays true to himself."

Scott's eyes softened. "You're really in love with him."

She glanced over at the Alpha who was smiling softly. It was no secret that Scott had been their biggest supporter since day one. When Stiles had told him that he had a crush on Harper at age twelve, all the McCall boy could imagine was the two of them together. How passionate they were reminded him of how he and Allison were at the start of their relationship, sometimes making him a little envious.

"Yeah, well it's Stiles," Harper beamed, "who isn't in love with him?"

"Promise I'll be best man at your wedding?" Scott teased with a grin.

Harper blushed a little at the thought, her heartbeat quickening. Sure, she had thought about marrying Stiles a few times momentarily, but she'd never discussed it out loud with anyone.

"That's kinda Stiles' choice," Harper teased back, "but if he says no, you can be the flower girl."

Scott fist pumped the air, cheering quietly as Harper giggled. The pair laughed together for a moment, the textbooks in front of them becoming long forgotten. They'd been studying all lunch and as soon as they got home from school, so Harper guessed they were deserving of a break.

"Do you know what he's doing right now?"

Harper scoffed. "Oh, he dragged Liam out to go and spy on Theo Raeken. Liam last texted me a couple of hours ago to ask why I'm dating 'such a control freak'." She placed air quotations around the nickname the young beta had given her boyfriend.

Scott sat up straighter in his chair. "Seriously?" He groaned, "we should go after him."

"Why?" Harper rolled her eyes, "let Stiles and Liam watch him play video games through his bedroom window for hours on end. Maybe then he'll stop obsessing over Theo so much."

The Alpha was on his phone, going through his 'find my friends' app. He lifted the screen up to show Harper that Stiles was no longer outside Theo's house but in the middle of the woods. The brunette gulped and nodded.

The two supernatural best friends stood by Scott's bike which was parked next to the blue jeep. It only took a couple of minutes before Stiles and Liam came trekking out of the woods, glum looks on their faces. Both of their eyes' widened when they saw Harper and Scott stood there.

"Find anything?" Harper smiled a little.

"Nope," Stiles walked past them, taking his keys out of his pocket as he moved to the jeep.

While the Stilinski boy climbed inside, Liam smiled at them bashfully. Harper raised her eyebrows, waiting for what he had to say.

"I fell in a hole."

She snorted, but Scott walked past him and to Stiles' window. Harper sent him a smile which Liam returned before they both moved closer to the senior boys.

"It was the bridge where his sister died, wasn't it?" Scott guessed.

"Yes, it was, very embarrassing," Stiles nodded back, sticking his keys into the ignition, "so we are gonna leave now."

The engine only sputtered before giving out, causing Stiles to purse his lips. His car had been having the same problems for a few months now- constantly breaking down. It was a miracle that it had lasted so long through the trio's little road trip.

Stiles closed his eyes. "Son of a..." He climbed out. "Liam, do me a favour. Get in the car and turn the ignition when I say."

Liam nodded, moving over to climb into the driver's side of the vehicle. Stiles popped open the hood of the car, trying to assess the situation. Harper moved around to take a look, her eyes widening a little at all of the duct tape covering everything. She wasn't sure it was safe, to be honest.

"Stiles?" Scott sighed.

"Be with you in a sec," the boy in question muttered before he called to Liam, "try it!"

Liam obeyed, but the engine just continued to make that awful sputtering noise. Stiles gritted his teeth at it, listening as it cut out.

"Stiles."

"Yes, okay? We followed him out here," Stiles exclaimed, frustration emitting from his body, "what do you want me to say? That I'm a stalker, huh? That I'm crazy, totally paranoid? None of this is new information!"

Harper bit down on her lip as Stiles began to fiddle with something else inside the hood, turning it so it squeaked loudly. She hated to see him so stressed out about something, but Scott kept a neutral face.

"You're not even gonna try and give him the benefit of the doubt?" The Alpha muttered.

"Scott-" Harper warned, but Stiles cut her off as he turned around, pointing a finger at him.

"I give people the benefit of the doubt," his voice was low, "I've given a lot of benefit to a lot of people."

"Like Derek? Kira? Liam?" Scott listed, making Stiles grunt as he got back to work.

"I was right about Peter," the Stilinski boy reminded him before calling, "try it again!"

Just spluttering- again. Harper was about to offer to go home and get her car and come and pick him back up, but Stiles was leaned over the edge of the hood, his jaw clenched.

"You know," he began, "I bet you still think that there's something about him that can be saved."

"Maybe."

Even Harper looked at their best friend incredulously while Stiles exhaled loudly. Time and time again, Peter Hale had proved himself untrustworthy to the pack, even trying to kill Scott a few months ago, and yet still Scott believed there was good in him? He was too nice for even Harper.

"Try it again!" Stiles yelled.

The engine started up only to die. Stiles swallowed back his anger, but Harper could sense that it was only rising.

"Stiles, let me get my car and come and pick you back up," Harper suggested softly, her hand reaching out to touch his hoodie-clad arm, "we can come back for the jeep before school tomorrow."

Stiles didn't reply, his hazel eyes were burning holes into his car that he both loved and hated so much. Everything was whirling through his mind at a million miles per second, leaving him so overwhelmed.

"Why don't you trust anyone?" Scott's annoyingly calm voice cut through the silence.

"Because you trust everyone!" Stiles suddenly burst, his arm ripping away from Harper's gentle hold only to smack back down on the jeep.

Harper gasped as he did so, watching as Stiles clamped his mouth shut in pain. It looked like he was trying not to cry, looking everywhere but his friends. The brunette felt the throbbing in her hand and looked down to find it already bruised. She glanced back up at her boyfriend, her eyes soft.

"Stiles, your hand."

"I'm fine," he answered shakily.

"You could have broken it," Scott murmured.

"It's not broken."

"Let me see it."

"I'm fine."

"Let me see it," Scott repeated, his hands moving over to Stiles' injured one.

It was hovering in the air, his fingers spread and shaking a little. Harper knew that it was hurting too much for him to move them, Stiles' eyes glossing over as Scott pressed his hands either side of it. Black veins began to grow on Scott's arms, the pain literally being sucked out of him.

Stiles inhaled as the sickening sensation left his hand. The pale boy flexed it, wriggling his fingers as his face softened. Nobody said anything as Stiles' eyes shifted over to Scott, a sort of thankful look to his face.

Suddenly, the engine of the jeep came to life and the headlights lit up, much to everybody's relief. It was time for them to go home. After all, Harper had an important day tomorrow.

.


	27. Chapter 27

"Oh, I should have got a haircut," Sheriff Stilinski sighed, holding a mirror up to his face as he ran a hand through his greying hair, trying to push it back off of his forehead the best he could.

Stiles shrugged. "Well, you know, someone your age should be thankful they still have hair to cut."

"I think you look great," Scott beamed.

Harper nodded from beside him eagerly, "yeah, very handsome."

The brunette could feel the anxiety that he was experiencing, causing her to send him a sympathetic look. After years of mourning over his late wife, Sheriff Stilinski was finally going out on a date. It had to be terrifying when he hadn't been with anybody in so long.

"Well, thank you, children I should have had," Noah looked over at his son's best friends, making them both smile at Stiles who blinked, "oh, what the hell am I doing? This is a terrible idea!"

Noah reached for the tie around his neck, his fingers starting to loosen it so that he could tug it off. Stiles reached out, grabbing his hand before he could complete the action.

"What... Dad," his son shook his head, "dad. This is one date, okay? The town of Beacon Hills won't implode while you're out with one woman." He paused, shooting him a suggestive look, "or man."

"It's a woman, Stiles," Noah insisted as he calmed down, starting to become shy again, "a very beautiful woman."

"So... who is this beautiful woman, by the way?" Stiles asked.

"None of your business," he smiled, "none of your businesses."

"Oh, come on, Sheriff," Harper attempted to persuade him, shooting him the flattering smile that normally made her get her way— or at least it did with Stiles— "if you tell us who she is, maybe we can give you some tips. Or just me. I know what ladies like, after all."

It almost looked like Noah was about to cave in, a twinkle in his blue eyes before he shook his head and chuckled. Before he could come back at her with a witty remark, Harper's entire face twisted, her eyes moving slowly over to the door where the blinds had been drawn.

"What is it?" Noah asked, his face falling when he noticed the way her lips had parted, an unsure expression written across her face.

Harper hesitated, not wanting to ruin the mood that Noah was in. Scott and Stiles both turned to look at her with concern, so she spilt.

"Someone out there's mad- like, really mad," the brunette pursed her lips.

As if on cue, a deep, masculine voice began to yell. "Stilinski! Stilinski!"

The Sheriff sighed, opening the door to his office and stepping out into the main department. A boy around Harper's age was being held back by Deputy Parrish and a female deputy and he appeared to be furious.

"I'm going to kill you!" He threatened, making Harper clench her jaw from where she stood behind the man next to her two best friends.

"Donavon, if you think that shocks me, remember it was well-documented in your Anger Expression Inventory," Noah shot back, his voice calm, "Deputies, escort the prisoner out."

"I'm not angry like I'm gonna throw a brick through your window. I'm angry like I'm gonna find you, I'm gonna get a knife and I'm gonna stab you with it until your dead," Donavon continued.

The teenage boy's lawyer shaking his head disappointedly from behind him.

"And when you look at me, and you ask me why— remember right now. Because this is why."

A heavy silence filled the room. For whatever reason, Deputy Parrish and the woman didn't start to drag Donavon away, they all just stood there glaring at each other. It almost came to a shock when Stiles spoke up from beside Harper, his voice snapping her back to reality from where she had been totally horrified by Donavon's words.

"Wow, that was awesome," Stiles spoke sarcastically, "that was awesome- that was great. Can we do one more? Give us another one, maybe like Christopher Walken this time, you know. Okay, you know what? It's fine. You'll have plenty of time to work on it when you're in a tiny, little cell, you know? Just stuck there- forever."

While Harper thought Stiles' rant was humorous, and she admired him for sticking up for his dad, she sent her boyfriend a stern look- pleading him to stop talking. The last thing she wanted was for Stiles to end up on Donavon's death list, too.

A small smile crossed Donavon's face as he shook his head in what looked like amusement- but Harper knew he was fuming. Just as Deputy Parrish began to pull Donavon away, the teenage boy jumped forwards, his face red with anger.

Stiles grabbed Harper's arm, pulling her behind him while Scott jumped in front of both of them. It seriously looked like Donavon had set himself free for a second, before Parrish and the woman had a better grip on him, tugging him backwards.

Sheriff Stilinski's face turned red with anger. "Get him out of here!" He ordered.

"The hell's Anger Expression Inventory?" Scott breathed as Donavon was pulled away, leaving the three teenagers and Stiles' dad alone.

"It's a test you take when you're applying to become a deputy," the hazel-eyed boy answered.

"Seriously?" Harper scoffed, looking in the direction that Donavon had been pulled in.

"That guy wanted to be a cop?" Scott clearly agreed with her.

"At least now he's getting the full law enforcement experience," Stiles huffed.

...

Sat in the back of the broken down jeep, Harper watched with pursed lips as Stiles grunted, trying to get the vehicle up and running. It was starting to become annoying with the number of times it refused to start, but Harper didn't say anything as she knew it was definitely ten times more irritating for her boyfriend.

Stiles sighed as he glanced up, noticing Scott looking at him from the passenger side. He huffed as he let go of his key, giving up.

"It's anxiety," he muttered.

Scott frowned. "What is?"

"The chemosignals," Stiles raised his eyebrows, "oh, I'm well aware of how you all monitor my emotional state." He turned around to face Harper in the back. "Especially you."

The Empath shrugged, about to state that she technically had no choice, but Stiles had already moved back to working on getting the jeep started. When it gave way once more, he let out a grunt of anger and slammed his fist down on the steering wheel.

"Babe," Harper murmured, leaning forward in her seat with furrowed brows. She pressed her hand on top of his shoulder, trying to push some relaxing energy into him. "What's going on?"

There was a short silence where Harper thought he was about to ignore her, but he sighed, lifting his body up in his seat to dig into his back pocket.

"All right," he muttered, "I got this text from Braeden a few hours ago. That's the first real bit of information we've gotten on The Desert Wolf in months."

He handed the phone over to Scott, so Harper leaned over Scott's shoulder. She honestly wished that she hadn't looked at the screen. Several dead bodies were sprawled out across the floor, crimson shades everywhere. Harper could guess what had happened.

"The Desert Wolf did this?" Scott breathed.

"Yeah. And I'm the one who's been pulling on this thread," Stiles explained.

Harper bit her lip. "Maybe you should stop."

"It's not up to me," Stiles reminded her softly, his fingers twisting the keys again and this time, thankfully, the jeep roared to life.

Despite the teenagers' intentions of having a movie marathon at the McCall household to take their mind off of things, Stiles ended up having to make a U-turn. Lydia had texted Harper, telling them that they had found a police van tipped over in the middle of the road.

By the time Scott, Stiles and Harper had arrived, police were already on the scene. Red and blue lights flashed everywhere as the trio made their way over to Malia, Lydia and Kira. Apparently, they had been helping the werecoyote with her driving lessons when the Banshee had taken them on a little detour.

"Was this the same van Donavon was in?" Harper whispered worriedly to her boyfriend as a stretcher wheeled past them with the lawyer from before on it.

Stiles nodded, swallowing thickly as Sheriff Stilinski hurried over, a frown on his face.

"You three. Scott, you saw this kid, Donavon... He wasn't like you, was he?" Noah asked while Harper looked around at the chaos.

"I don't think so," Scott shook his head.

"Unless he knows how to hide his scent," Stiles added.

"Well, human or otherwise, this kid might have just murdered his lawyer and mortally wounded two officers," Noah explained, and Harper didn't miss the nervous edge to his voice. "We've got an APB out on him, but you think you can find him faster?"

Scott nodded. "I can try."

"All right," he handed the teenager a walkie talkie. "Keep it on channel two."

The werewolf took off, running down the street and away from the crime scene. Harper took a deep breath as she looked around at everyone, spotting the girls talking to an officer- probably about how they had found the whole mess. The feeling of terror seeped into her system, coming from nobody currently around but from whatever had happened before.

She closed her eyes, trying to get a better grip on the sensation she was experiencing. Tuning out all of the talking, Harper managed to sense who the emotions had been coming from- one of which had been Donavon. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes snapped open, finding the two Stilinski men already staring at her.

"Harps, what is it?" Stiles furrowed his brows.

"Donavon was scared," she murmured, keeping her voice down as an officer walked by them. Stiles and Noah shuffled slightly closer, ducking their heads down so they were slightly more her level. "I don't think it was him that did this. I think... I think it might have been something else."

Stiles' whiskey irises shone with something Harper recognised. She knew a million and one theories were currently racking through his brain, all most likely leading back to the same person- Theo Raeken.

"Great," muttered the Sheriff sarcastically.

"Guys," Harper rushed over to Malia, Kira and Lydia, "you three okay?"

Kira nodded for all of them. "We're fine."

Suddenly, Noah's walkie talkie began to crackle in his hand. He pulled it up, everybody staring at it as Scott's voice broke through all muffled.

"I found Donavon," he exclaimed, "he's completely freaked out. He keeps saying some name."

Sheriff Stilinski held the device to his lips. "What name?"

"Theo," Stiles murmured under his breath.

"Tracy," Scott replied, much to his surprise, "he keeps saying Tracy."

"Tracy who?" Noah asked.

Lydia sighed, "Stewert. Tracy Stewert."

...

The next day, the pack met up out the front of the school to discuss their issues with Tracy Stewert- a girl in Liam's grade that Lydia had been noticing for the past few days. Apparently, the poor girl had gone to Lydia's mum because she was having night terrors and she ended up throwing up a black substance with bird feathers in it, indicating that, clearly, something was wrong with her.

"Tracy wasn't just having trouble sleeping," Lydia sighed, "it was a real disorder. It was night terrors."

"Well, now she's the night terror. Especially since no one can find her," Stiles huffed.

Scott spoke up from where he had his arm wrapped around Kira. "Okay, I know we're all tired and miserable..." His eyes cast to the boy next to him.

Mason stood there with a grin on his face as his eyes panned across the circle of friends, not even noticing that the Alpha was looking right at him.

"Except for you."

The dark-skinned boy chuckled, "oh, I'm sorry. This is all just mind-blowing." He pointed at Kira, "you're a Kitsune. I don't even know what that is!"

Isaac rolled his eyes while Kira smiled sheepishly, "I'm still learning."

It was obvious that Mason was taking the fact that his best friend was a werewolf well. Maybe even a little too well. Liam was forced to tell Mason last night when a wolf tried to attack them at the school, but everything had worked out. Now, the sophomore boy just wanted to be involved. 

"Liam, we said you could tell him. Not invite him to the inner circle," Stiles deadpanned, making Harper frown a little.

She thought that Mason's attitude was quite amusing, maybe even refreshing from their usual daily lives. It seemed that nobody else thought so though, not even Liam himself.

"I-I'm in the inner circle?" Mason gaped.

"No," Stiles, Liam and Isaac all said at once- the word coming out as a monotone drone.

"We should focus back on Tracy," Harper cut in as an attempt to stop Mason's feelings getting hurt, "you know, the actual problem here."

Scott nodded in agreement. "Yeah. She's just one lone wolf, we can find her."

"One lone serial-killing wolf," Malia corrected.

Isaac shrugged. "She did only kill one person... What are we doing when we catch her, by the way?"

"I say we put her down," the werecoyote insisted.

Everybody began to exchange glances, mainly at Scott who was obviously the leader of the group. Mason's dark eyes were gaped open, staring around at the older teenagers before nodding with a grin.

"Intense."

"Guys, let's concentrate on catching her first," Scott sighed, "we'll figure out the rest later."

...

Harper couldn't stop her foot tapping against the bottom of her barstool as she sat in her AP Biology seat, waiting for her test results back. She ignored the anxiety of the other students as the paper was placed down in front of her, causing her breath to momentarily hitch.

"Thank you," she murmured to the teacher, who was already placing Theo's test on his desk before walking away.

Turning the sheet over, Harper prepared for the worst, but her heart skipped a beat when she realised that she had done much better than she thought. Circled in red ink was a '90', instantly letting her know that she could relax. Theo glanced over from his seat, sending her a grin.

"Congratulations," he whispered.

Harper sent back a small smile as Mrs Finch finally made it to the front of the classroom, placing Scott's paper down in front of him. Desperately, the Empath wanted to know what he had got, but she guessed she'd have to wait until after class now.

"Nice to see where your priorities are, Scott," Mrs Finch congratulated, "since you have such a good grasp of the subject, why don't you lead us in a review of last night's reading?"

Scott hesitated. "Uh... sure."

A moment of silence went by as Scott flipped open his textbook only to get distracted by something- or more like someone- at the door. Harper followed the direction he was looking in, not surprised to find Liam stood there, trying to wave him out.

"Scott?" Mrs Finch folded her arms across her chest, staring at him expectantly.

"Sorry... Just looking for the page," he continued to flick through, but his eyes kept drifting over to his beta who wasn't giving up.

"Scott."

"Yeah, sorry-"

"Scott."

The Alpha nodded, tapping his ear as a silent indication for Liam to whisper whatever he had to say. Harper huffed under her breath, slouching back in her seat. It was times like this that she wished she had supernatural hearing so she knew what was going on.

She flipped her page, her eyes drifting over to Theo who was craning his neck a little. Harper realised that he was listening too, making her raise her brows. Before Scott could read his section of the textbook, the fire alarm started to go off.

The shrill sound made her jump as she moved all of her belongings into her back, rushing to the front of the room where Scott was.

"What's going on?" She asked.

Scott gulped. "It's Tracy. She turned up to school."

Harper frowned, slightly panicked as students brushed past her to get out of the classroom and outside.

"What can I do?" The brunette asked, "how can I help?"

"Go get Isaac, I don't think she's gonna go down without a fight."

Nodding, Harper rushed out of the room and down the hall in the opposite direction that the students were going in. Some shot her strange looks, but she continued to jump up every now and then, trying to look at all of the faces to spot the one that she needed.

"Isaac?" She called quietly, hoping that he would be able to hear her with his supernatural abilities, "Isaac!"

"Harper?" She heard Malia call above all of the chattering teenagers.

"Malia!"

The werecoyote was by her side in a few seconds, the two girls moving away from the crowds and more to the lockers. Stiles, who had been with her, placed his hand on the small of her back. 

"Hey, we need to get out of here. The fire alarm-"

"Liam pulled it," Harper cut him off with a shake of the head. "Tracy's here, she turned up to Liam's history class."

Stiles' eyes widened. "Oh shit."

"Yeah, exactly," she huffed, glancing back around only to notice the six-foot-something werewolf walking down the hall with an annoyed expression on his face, "Isaac!"

Some people stared at her as Isaac shoved through some people, making his way over to his pack.

"Something tells me this has something to do with one of our friends, right?" He sighed when Malia nodded. "Right."

The halls were emptied by the time they got around to the main exit, just in time to find Scott carrying a limp Tracy Stewert down the hall. Mr Yukimura was right beside him while Liam hung back with an ebony-haired girl, watching worriedly.

Stiles and Harper quickly moved to the doors, opening them for Scott who hurried through, Malia and Isaac following. Whatever reason Tracy had mercury around her mouth didn't require a trip to the hospital- this was a job for Deaton.


	28. Chapter 28

Pulling back Tracy's eyelid, Deaton shone a torch into her dark eye, observing it with a stern expression. Harper watched with her arms folded, her back slightly pressed against Stiles' chest. The younger teenage girl was breathing heavily, a thin layer of sweat coating her body. Some of the mercury had been cleaned off of her face, but it still stained the edge of her mouth.

"Pupils dilate under normal conditions," Deaton muttered, checking her pulse, "heart rate is 250. Evidence of allogeneic skin graft on the right shoulder. Now, this silvery substance on her lips is not something I've seen. It almost looks like mercury."

"It is," Harper's brows furrowed, making everybody look at her. "well, that's what I was thinking, anyway. Mercury is the only liquid metal."

Tracy's body suddenly jolted, making everybody jump back a little. Harper found herself pressed further against her boyfriend's chest, his large hands moving up to hold her arms out of instinct.

"Can't you just give her a shot of something?" Malia asked.

"She doesn't look to be in any pain," Deaton spoke.

Isaac frowned. "She's panting like she's sick."

Malia shook her head, "I meant a shot to kill her."

Harper pursed her lips, shaking her head slightly at the ground. Most of the time Malia seemed to take on board the pack's no killing policy, but sometimes she would suggest macabre scenarios that would make the Empath shudder. 

"I generally prescribe to a code of ethics that frowns on such measures," Deaton reminded her calmly, not at all disturbed by the werecoyote's straightforwardness.

"Malia, you know we're not gonna do that," Scott added.

"How do you know she's not gonna kill us?" Malia asked, making Isaac raise his eyebrows, clearly suggesting that his girlfriend had a point.

"Yeah, what she said," the blue-eyed boy agreed, "I don't particularly fancy ending up like her dad or her psychiatrist."

Stiles sighed. "Either way, we're gonna have to let my dad know she's here."

"Agreed," Deaton nodded, "and while I may argue against euthanasia, I'm not opposed to a little..." He picked up a jar. "Extra security."

Harper realised it was mountain ash as the veterinarian flipped off the lid and sprayed Tracy's body and the rest of the room with the grey powder. It quickly collected around the edge of the room in a neat line- like magic. Stiles stared at it with furrowed brows.

"Don't worry, Stiles," Deaton spoke up upon noticing the teenage boy's face. "Tracy won't be able to cross a line of mountain ash. She's not going anywhere."

"Yeah, that's kind of what I'm afraid of," Stiles admitted.

"Well, you, Harper and I will be able to get out of here no problem. You three- not so much," he glanced over at Malia, Isaac and Scott.

The werecoyote looked like she didn't believe Deaton. Reaching her hand out, she tried to stick it out of the circle, quickly retracting it when it was pushed back by an invisible force.

"Weird," Malia muttered quickly.

"Scott and Isaac, would you two mind holding her down?" Deaton asked as he turned and grabbed a small knife, "I'm going to be trying a few more invasive tests."

Deaton began to drag the scalpel across Tracy's arm, frowning as the blade merely scraped over her skin, leaving it totally unharmed.

"What the hell?" Harper muttered as Deaton lifted up the scalpel that had snapped against her when he tried to push harder.

"I think you're gonna need a bigger blade," Stiles mumbled.

The dark-skinned man sent him an unamused look but silently agreed. A churning noise came from Tracy's neck as Deaton turned her head. Harper shared a look with the man, having been the only other person to see it. Scott, Stiles and Isaac were talking in the corner while Malia was looking out the window, bored.

"Bloody hell, do you see that?" Her voice was low as she watched the lump on the side of Tracy's neck move.

Malia walked over as Harper's fingers hesitantly moved over, touching it. She jumped when it disappeared before returning.

"Malia, help me turn her over, please."

The werecoyote obeyed, Harper helping to get Tracy onto her back and pull up her shirt. She grimaced at the sight, her brown eyes flickering over to the three boys still talking in the corner- something about Donavon.

"Guys," Harper called wearily, "come look at this."

Tracy's spine was moving- lifting up and down and turning as a snake would. Deaton moved to poke it, making Harper wince as whatever was underneath it strained back against her skin.

And then suddenly it burst.

Her back literally ripped in half, liquid shooting from it and spraying Scott and Deaton in the face. Everybody jumped back, Harper's hand to her mouth as she tried not to gag at the sight. Her spine was still moving, blood everywhere.

"What the-" Isaac was cut off as it jolted out, striking Stiles straight across the chest.

Harper shrieked as her boyfriend fell down with a thump, letting out a pained grunt. Before she could react, it had sliced her arm, making her fall down next to him. From her spot on the floor, she helplessly watched as Tracy climbed up, cutting Malia, Isaac, Scott and Deaton before running away- this time with claws and a tail.

Stiles was sprawled out on his stomach, his head twisted so it was facing Harper who was on her back, also trying to gain movement in her body. The brunette realised what was going on pretty quickly- they had been paralysed by Kanima venom.

"It wasn't a werewolf!" Stiles called, his voice slightly strained from his position on the floor.

"Yeah, no shit!" Isaac yelled back.

"Kanima," Scott panted.

"Deaton, I thought you said she couldn't get through the mountain ash," Harper recalled, her face scrunching up as she tried to regain feeling.

"I don't know how she did it," the man called back shakily, "it's a barrier no supernatural creature should be able to cross, with the exception of the Empath and a few others, of course."

"Scott did it!" Isaac called.

"Once," the Alpha corrected, "but it almost killed me."

Malia was slumped up against the wall, fury radiating from her body. Harper could also sense the panic coming from the werecoyote, most likely not used to being in such a vulnerable position.

"We should have killed her!" She growled.

"Meanwhile, she's probably on her way to killing someone else," Stiles agreed.

Deaton cut in. "Listen, everyone. We need to concentrate. Scott, Malia and Isaac, you three will probably be able to move long before Stiles, Harper and I can. But you need to focus."

"Focus on what?" Malia panted.

"Healing," the McCall boy reminded her softly.

"I don't know how to tell my body to heal!" Malia cried, her voice only raising the more distressed she got. Her panic was starting to make Harper panic.

"Malia, it's okay," Harper swallowed, turning her head to the side so that she wasn't looking at the ceiling but at Stiles.

She managed to peer past his head, finding Malia almost in tears as she cried, "I can't calm down- I can't move!"

Isaac grunted, "Mal. It's not gonna last long. We're gonna be okay. Doc, how do we focus?"

"Think of a body part. Your hands, your feet, even just the tips of your fingers."

Harper closed her eyes, trying to do as he was saying.

"Imagine them moving. See it in your mind and your body will follow."

Silence filled the room as the teenagers all clenched their jaws, straining as hard as they could to try and feel something.

"Okay," Stiles panted, sweat covering his face, 'I'm pretty sure I just felt my right leg move." He paused. "Yep, definitely felt it. Like a twinge, spasm, something. Ah!"

"I'm going to have to disagree and I think I hold an informed opinion," Deaton sighed from where he was laid out by Stiles' feet.

"Malia!" Isaac gasped when he saw his girlfriend's fingers start to twitch.

"I don't think she cut me that deep!" Malia grunted back.

Stiles' eyes widened. "Go, Malia. Keep moving."

In response, groans and pants came from the werecoyote and seconds later the sounds of feet stumbling across the floor. Harper looked over, her eyes widening when she saw Malia had managed to push herself up so she was standing.

"What's happening? I can't see," Stiles asked.

"Malia? Malia, wait for us!" Isaac called.

"There's no time."

"She's not a werewolf," Stiles agreed worriedly.

"But she has a scent. I can find her," Malia muttered.

"Malia," Scott rushed, "save her."

With no more words, Malia stepped over Stiles and Harper's bodies, stumbling out of the room and running as fast as she could after Tracy. Harper sighed and closed her eyes, realising that she was going to be there for a while now.

Minutes later, Harper began to feel something, except it wasn't her fingers or her legs- it was her stomach. The brunette cried out, her head leaning up to see if she could see what was going on with her body. Her head dropped back to the floor, her eyes scrunching up in pain as she cried out louder.

"Harper, calm down. It should come naturally," Deaton called above her panting.

"No, no," Harper whimpered, tears starting to burn in her brown eyes, "it's- it's my stomach! Argh!"

Another wave of pain hit causing Stiles starting to panic from next to her. His face was already watching her, his hazel eyes glistening as much as the sweat on his skin.

"What's going on? Is that where she hit you?" The Stilinski boy demanded.

"Not me," Harper panted, whimpering. "Lydia."

"Harper, breathe," Scott reminded her, though his tone held obvious concern for the other teenage girl, "try to disconnect yourself."

The brunette scrunched her eyes shut, slight breaths coming from her lips as she began to panic almost like Malia had. Between the pain and her worry for Lydia, who she knew it was coming from for some reason, Harper couldn't seem to come back down.

"Harper?" Stiles called, but his voice sounded distant.

She snapped her eyes back open, meeting Stiles' panicked gaze. He was chewing on his bottom lip, grunting slightly as he tried to get the Kanima venom to wear off.

"My- my ring isn't working," Harper whimpered again.

"You don't need that stupid thing," Stiles insisted, "the ring- the ring does nothing, Harper. It's all in your head that the ring's the thing keeping you strong. You're the thing keeping yourself strong, Harper. You are. It's always been you."

A placebo effect. Harper had wondered if that was the case since Derek's whole triskele thing with Liam in the back of the prison transport van months ago, but she had dismissed it, thinking that surely she wasn't strong enough to do it herself. But maybe she had been.

Harper didn't even realise it, but her breaths had slowed down to a steady pace and the pain in her stomach had started to subside. When her eyes flickered back open, Stiles was closing his in relief, a small sigh escaping his lips.

"Thank god," he muttered just as a door swinging open filled their ears.

"Hello?" Deaton called.

"I'm starting to get my feeling back," Scott hissed lowly just as a body came around the corner.

Harper turned her head, more than surprised to see Theo Raeken stood there. She had suspected Malia to have come back for them, or maybe Liam checking up on Tracy, not her Biology partner that Stiles hated with every fibre of his being.

Immediately, Theo jumped into action- rushing to Scott first who was trying to get up off of the floor. Scott groaned, leaning against the metal table in the centre of the room as he squinted his eyes at the dirty-blonde-haired boy.

"How did you find us?" Scott questioned.

Theo replied, "because you work here. I heard about Tracy, I've been looking for you."

Before Scott could say anything else, Theo reached down and grabbed Stiles under the arms, making the Stilinski boy immediately cry out a, 'no'. Harper scoffed a little to herself, knowing that her boyfriend was so stubborn he'd rather just lay on the ground for hours instead of letting Theo help him. Theo dumped him against the table by Scott, making Stiles groan.

The teenage boy turned to her next, sending her a purse-lipped smile as he bent down and wrapped his larger hands around her waist. Her body involuntarily leaned against his as he pulled her over, moving her next to Stiles with a little more care.

"We lost her," Scott muttered.

"And Malia," Isaac added as he pressed his hands against the walls, using as much strength as he could muster to pull himself up.

"I can help," Theo insisted, moving over to Deaton now.

"This is Theo?" Deaton questioned, making Scott nod.

"Let me help," the boy in question insisted again, "it doesn't have to mean I'm part of the pack. Or like you've accepted me or anything like that. It just means I can help catch this girl."

Everybody glanced over at Scott, who they knew would be making the final decision.

"Scott, I can help you."

Harper began to start feeling her legs and her stomach, a wince covering her face when she felt the dampness of her three-quarter length knitted jumper. With hands still shaky due to the paralysis only just wearing off, Harper touched the material and pulled her fingers away to reveal a crimson liquid.

"Harper?" Isaac furrowed his brows at her, making everybody look over.

"We need to find Lydia. I- the only times I connect when I'm not with the person is when it's severe. Lydia- she needs us."


	29. Chapter 29

Harper, Stiles, Theo, Isaac and Deaton ran behind Scott through the police station, coming to a sharp halt when the Alpha noticed the crimson liquid smeared across the floor. Cautiously, he opened the door, revealing what had happened.

Stiles pushed past the others, rushing over to his dad who was being helped up from the floor by a Deputy. The brunette moved into the office, her heart dropping when she found what she had been suspecting.

Lydia was sprawled across the floor, a bloody wound on the side of her stomach. Kira glanced up from where she was applying pressure to the paralysed girl, thankful to see her friends. But Harper had barely noticed the Kitsune, she was too horrified at the pained expression on Lydia's pale, sweaty face.

"Lydia," she cried, just as Stiles appeared behind her.

"Oh my god," he moved to help, but Theo pushed through, sliding his belt off.

They watched with wide eyes as the new werewolf quickly placed the belt around her, trying to help stop the blood flowing. He tightened it around her, making the strawberry blonde's face scrunch up and turn.

Before Harper could jump in to comfort her, hands pushed Stiles and Harper away from each other, causing their heads to snap to the cause. Mrs Martin stumbled through, her blue eyes glassy as she took in the appearance of her daughter.

"Oh god!" She breathed, rushing over and kneeling by her head while Lydia gasped.

"Harper," Stiles grabbed her wrist urgently, "Scott and Isaac found something."

The brunette looked back at the girl who had been one of her best friends for years now. Her heart hammered in her chest as she looked between Lydia and Stiles. An ambulance was wailing outside and Lydia did have three people surrounding her.

"It's okay, she's alright," Theo reassured her, but Harper didn't want to listen to him.

"Go," Lydia was smiling at her, despite everything. "Harper, I'm fine. Help Tracy. Go."

"Harper," Stiles tried again, a sympathetic gleam in his hazel eyes.

He was worried about Lydia too; he'd grown to consider her one of his closest friends over the past couple of years. And while he didn't appreciate the fact that she has a crush on his girlfriend, he had to give her credit— she had good taste.

"Lydia's gonna be okay," he murmured as Harper finally detached herself from the scene.

The couple ran to the back, going down the stairs of the basement in order to follow Scott and Isaac. They found Malia amongst a mess, and much to everybody's dismay, Tracy's body was slumped against the floor.

"Is she..." Isaac began.

Malia swallowed thickly. "I didn't do it."

"What the hell happened to her?" Sheriff Stilinski remanded to know, bending down to the girl.

"There were these people," Malia explained, her tone alarmed and her eyes teary. "They had masks. There were three of them. I- I think there were three."

"What are you talking about?" Stiles frowned.

"Th-they were strong, Stiles," she looked between her group of friends, "they had a weapon. I didn't do this."

"We believe you," Harper reassured her, gulping down her anxiety from what was happening on the floor above, "Malia, it's okay."

Sensing how frantic the werecoyote was, Isaac reached to place his hand on her shoulder, sending her a worried look. Before she could say anything, Deaton spoke up.

"She's not changing back," he warned, inspecting the beige claws on the ends of her fingers. "We're gonna need to get her out of here."

Sheriff Stilinski's face turned hard. "What- Hey. Absolutely not. This is a crime scene. We call the coroner."

Despite how furious Noah seemed at Deaton's suggestion, the man with more supernatural experience remained calm, not even flinching as he made eye contact with the Sheriff.

"I think the coroner might be very confused by this girl's severed reptilian tail."

"I don't care!"

"You should... unless you're prepared to hold a press conference announcing the presence of supernatural creatures in Beacon Hills," Deaton argued as soft as ever.

There was a silence as Noah clenched his jaw.

"Dad, he's right," Stiles insisted.

Scott nodded. "Maybe at the clinic we can figure out how to change her back and then call the coroner?"

Noah began to pace. "There- There is a line. There is a line we have to draw."

"Dad, you've already crossed it. More than once."

"Sheriff, please," the veterinarian pleaded, "let me help. I've dealt with things like this before."

Noah was shaking his head, a clear conflict going on in his mind. His responsibilities as the Sheriff and as a knower of the supernatural sat in two very separate corners, behind a line he hated to cross. But he knew he had to make sacrifices.

"Just do it fast," he warned, his voice low.

Rolling his sleeves up, Isaac moved to lift Tracy's shoulders. Scott grabbed her lower half and they hauled her out of the room.

...

Harper would be lying if she said she wasn't scared. Her parents had passed away a little over two weeks ago now, and today was her first day back at school. Everybody knew what had happened- it was hard to miss since it had been all over international news: Mental asylum shot up by a man who shortly takes his life after.

The young girl had no doubt in her mind that her classmates would be all over her today. Scott and Stiles had promised to stick by her all day, so maybe it wouldn't be that bad.

"We have gym now," Stiles groaned as the bell rang, indicating that lunch was over. "Boys have soccer. I can't kick a ball to save my life."

Scott frowned. "Me either."

Harper's eyes widened slightly at the realisation that she was about to be parted from her two best friends, also known as her only friends. The trio was never seen with anybody else- that's what made them such great targets to typical middle school bullies like Jackson Whittemore.

Noticing her sudden mood change, Scott reached out and grabbed her hand, squeezing it.

"It's only for one hour," he reminded her softly.

The twelve-year-old girl nodded, swallowing thickly. Despite knowing it would only be sixty minutes as Scott had said, it felt like in those sixty minutes she might as well be defenceless and stood in the middle of no man's land.

Stiles sighed. "You'll be fine. When my mum died everybody was nice to me for, like, a month."

She nodded again, feeling a little bit better now. Harper had noticed that even Jackson hadn't said a word in their direction today. Maybe they all felt sorry for her. That had to be better than them all teasing the three best friends, surely.

"Okay," she agreed, her voice still a little wobbly. "Meet me after school?"

"Movies and pizza?" Grinned the twelve-year-old Scott.

"Only if it's Star Wars," Stiles cut in.

"I don't want to watch Star Wars..." the shaggy-haired boy complained, his bottom lip pouting.

Harper watched as the boys began to head in the opposite direction, leaving her alone with her PE kit. Turning around, Harper entered the classroom the girls were all getting changed in. Like always, she stood in the corner of the room, starting to unpack the clothes she was going to change into.

Glancing up momentarily, she couldn't help but notice all of the spaces next to her were empty. Usually, a group of girls stood near her while they changed, but they had moved a good few feet down. Her cheeks went red as she began to overthink, quickly looking away from them.

"Yeah, her parents were, like, shot up."

"With a gun?"

"Oh my god, what else would it be, Megan?"

"I don't know! So they're dead?"

"Yep. She's an orphan now."

"Wow, like Annie."

They all began to giggle a little, and Harper didn't realise it but she was crying. Tears streamed down her cheeks that were burning red, her entire body trembling as she held her PE shirt close to her chest, her gaze locked on the table in front of her.

"It's Harper, right?" A perky, high-pitched voice came from beside her.

Harper visibly flinched, making the strawberry blonde raise her eyebrows. She knew exactly who the girl was. It was Lydia Martin, only the most popular girl in their entire grade. Pink lip gloss was present against her plump lips as they turned up into a sad smile.

"Don't listen to those bitches," Lydia made sure the girls heard, looking over her shoulder to see if they had noticed. "Some people are just total scum that definitely shouldn't have worn tartan leggings with a polka dot shirt." She turned to the wide-eyed girls. "Pick up a fashion magazine, oh my god!"

A small giggle came from Harper as she sniffled, making the corners of Lydia's lips twitch up into a grin.

"You're my dance partner today. Jessie's not here and you're pretty, I guess."

"Thanks?" Harper croaked, "no offence, but why are you talking to me?"

"I saw you crying, you looked kinda lame," she admitted, "thought I'd save some of your dignity. Speaking of... Come shopping with me this weekend. My treat."

Harper was about to tell Lydia that her parents didn't let her go to the mall alone until she remembered they weren't exactly around anymore. Nodding, the brown-eyed girl smiled slightly.

She whispered, "okay. Thank you, Lydia."

Fingers snapped in front of her face, making Harper snap out of her daydreaming. She looked up, finding Melissa stood right in front of her. Stiles joined her side a few seconds later from where he had been sat on one of the waiting seats.

"Is she okay?" Harper gulped.

"It could have been worse," Melissa sighed, looking over at the werewolf. "Theo, nice going on that tourniquet. You probably saved her life."

Scott and Liam came walking down the hall from the elevator, so now Melissa was surrounded by teenagers worried about the Martin girl. Harper glanced over at Theo, finding him already looking at her. She sent him a small nod of appreciation, honestly thankful that he had helped her best friend.

"All right, she's about to go into surgery, so it's gonna be a while," the nurse breathed, "any other supernatural details that I need to know about or do we just stitch her up and hope for the best?"

"It was the tail," Kira spoke.

Scott elaborated. "Tracy cut her with the tail if that makes any difference."

Melissa nodded before walking down the hall towards Lydia's hospital room. Sighing, Harper ran a hand through her brunette beach waves, closing her eyes momentarily as a form of stress relief. So much for the six months of supernatural peace.

"But it wasn't just Tracy," Malia reminded them again, "there were the others. The guys in the masks."

Isaac bit down on his lip, sharing a glance with Scott. While Harper believed Malia, it seemed like some members of the pack weren't so sure.

...

Harper had her sketch pad out in front of her, only whiskey shades of pencils dotted about. They sprawled across Stiles' blue bedsheets, some slipping down into the dip of the bed where Malia was sat. The aspiring artist didn't mind, she was too concentrated on her work. While the homework was due next week anyway, art also seemed to be therapeutic to her and she needed something to take her mind off of Lydia.

"You're drawing eyes," Malia noted as she leaned over to look at the page. "That's boring."

The Empath huffed. "You're boring."

Rolling her eyes, Malia took no offence to the half-assed comeback. She picked up the shades of brown, inspecting them with judgemental eyes.

"Whose are they?" She asked.

Harper said nothing but nodded her head in the direction of her boyfriend who was stood with his back to the girls, writing things down on his evidence board with a white pen. It was something about Tracy Stewert, but Harper didn't want to think about her right now.

Malia hummed in acknowledgement before turning her attention to the board.

'WHO IS THE DESERT WOLF?' had its own little segment on the board, scribbled in Stiles' usual messy handwriting. She stared at it for a few moments before climbing up off of the bed and grabbing the ink eraser. She said nothing as she rubbed it away, making Harper purse her lips sadly.

The werecoyote's phone beeped, causing her to dig it out of her pocket. Her eyes lit up a little more than they had been before.

"Gotta go," she sent a smile in both their directions as she headed for the door. "Isaac wants me to come over."

Harper barely had the chance to send her a wave before Malia had dashed off, her footsteps being heard retreating down the staircase. Her hazel-eyed boyfriend released a small sigh as he dropped his pen onto the holder at the bottom of the board, his shoulders rolling back. Harper noticed, her brows raising a little.

"Stressed?" She asked softly.

"Asked the Empath," Stiles muttered sarcastically, glancing over his shoulder and sending her a wavering smile that barely reached his face. "This was our senior year. It was meant to be good."

"I think senior years are meant to be the opposite," Harper hummed, letting go of her sketchpad so it dropped onto the mattress. She stood from the bed, moving over to him and wrapping her arms around his torso. Her cheek rested against his back, her body rising and falling gently with his as he breathed.

Stiles' large hands held onto her arms, appreciating the warmth that the small girl provided. Harper took her arms away from around him, her own hands moving to the top of his shoulders. Her head came up to just below his shoulders, so she could only just see what she was doing as she pressed her fingers into his skin a little harder, creating motions that were meant to be relaxing.

Much to her delight, Stiles released a small sigh and she felt the tenseness in his muscles fade a little. She smoothed her palms through his maroon tee, her delicate fingers working wonders against the curve that ended his neck to start his shoulders.

"Why have you never given me a massage before?" Stiles questioned, his eyes long closed. "Your hands are like magic."

"Not the first time you've said that," Harper winked despite the fact that he couldn't see her, making Stiles chuckle and shake his head. "Lay on the bed, it will be easier."

"Not the first time you've said that either," Stiles teased as he parted from her hands, instantly missing the sensation that she had been providing.

Harper giggled, watching as he flopped onto the bed, his face on the pillow right next to her sketch pad. She climbed so that she straddled his waist, leaning forwards so that she could continue her 'magic'. With her tongue poking out slightly in concentration, Harper imagined pushing relaxing energy into his system, finding that Stiles was relaxing even more.

"Did you-"

"Mhm," Harper hummed, leaning further towards him and pressing a peck to his neck. "Wanna take your shirt off? I'll massage your back, too."

"Yeah."

Harper moved off of him so that he could pull the top over himself, leaving him in just his trousers. Just as he laid back down, his eyes caught sight of the book next to him. His hands reached for them, a smile melting across his face as he instantly recognised the eyes staring back at him.

"You're drawing my eyes?" Stiles questioned.

Harper nodded. "Yeah, yours are my favourite, so..." She bopped the end of his nose, making it crinkle up involuntarily.

"Yours are my favourite too," he murmured, turning so that he was sat up, Harper straddling his legs. His hands were flat on her back and he had to look up at her from where she sat on her knees.

"They're just brown."

"The most beautiful shade of brown I've ever seen," his voice was barely above a murmur, a tone he only ever used with her. "There are specks of black around the edges, and they look hazel in some lights- then you can see shades of gold in them."

The smile that seemed to be impossible to stop taking over her face felt like the most natural thing in the world. She let it cover her as she leaned down, attaching her lips with his. Stiles certainly had a way with words, whether he meant to or not. He always knew just the way to make her heart go woosh.

Harper pushed him back gently so he was leaning against the pillows, their lips still connected. Her hands worked down his smooth chest, passing the hairs until she got to the buttons of his trousers. Before she could begin to work on them, Stiles flipped them, pressing his hips against her harder.

She gasped, their mouths detaching as his hands gripped her hips, pushing her down into the mattress. His lips began to nip at her neck, her hands wrapping around his broad shoulders. One hand was in the back of his hair, tugging at the dark locks while the other ran down his bare back, desperate to feel him close to her.

Harper kissed along Stiles' neck, long and hard enough to leave red marks in her trail. He tilted his head slightly for her, his eyes fluttering closed as he groaned. His hands grabbed her dainty wrists, holding them above her head as he parted from her lips, pressing his down her neck and to her chest.

"Stiles..." She whispered. "Your dad's downstairs."

"Then I guess we'll have to be quiet, won't we?" He smirked.

...

Harper and Stiles had received alarming news at school the next morning- straight after getting lectured by Scott about how 'tacky' the hickeys on their necks looked. Stiles reminded Scott that not everyone had the supernatural ability to as heal like he did, but that didn't matter. They had far bigger problems than the temporary marks bruising their exposed skin.

The line between the supernatural and science was being smeared- it was merging.

Tracy had the claws of the werewolf, but also the venom of a Kanima and she was able to cross the mountain ash in the animal shelter with no difficulties. It had only taken Deaton a little while to realise that if Tracy wasn't born or bitten, then she had to of been made. Which meant something terrifying: somebody was making supernatural creatures out of ordinary people.

But despite the supernatural threats, life for Harper Verum and her friends had to go on. So Biology class it was. Mrs Finch was up front, writing detailed notes on the chalkboard that Harper was copying as neatly as she could into her notepad. Once the teacher had finished, she dropped the chalk and dusted her hands together, scanning the classroom with judgemental eyes.

"If 99.9% of our DNA sequence is the same as other humans, what could account for the missing 0.1% difference?" She didn't allow anybody a chance to answer before calling on Harper's partner. "Theo?"

He glanced up from the book he had been scribbling in, answering with only a slight pause beforehand. "Um, nucleotides."

"That's right."

Harper frowned, raising her hand.

"Yes, Harper?"

"Weird question, but I was just curious. Can there be more than one type of species in the same DNA?" The brunette asked, not missing the way that Theo turned to look at her. She bit down on her lip when she felt his slight confusion.

"No," Mrs Finch replied, "but there can be multiple sets of DNA in the same individual. We call that a chimera. Anyone know where that term comes from? Yes, Sydney?"

The girl who was sat at the front beamed, practically glowing at the chance to show off to her teacher. Harper recognised her as the girl that had passed out during the PSATs.

"Greek mythology," Sydney explained. "It's a lion with a goat coming out of its back and a tail that ends in the head of a snake."

"That's right, Sydney. Do you want to read us the full Wikipedia entry off your phone?" Mrs Finch raised her eyebrows, causing her student to blush with embarrassment, "but that does get us into the topic of mutation. As you know from the reading, DNA is a fragile molecule. Isn't it, Scott?"

The Alpha glanced up from his book, eyes wide when he realised that she had been looking at him clearly not focusing the whole time. Harper groaned mentally, not wanting her best friend to embarrass himself like Sydney had. She was already feeling enough second-hand embarrassment in the room, and being an Empath didn't make it any easier.

"Or did you miss last night's assigned reading?"

Kira glanced at her boyfriend expectantly, but he just pursed his lips. "Kind of."

"Kind of, or yes?"

He looked down. "Mostly yes."

"Well then. Thank you for another helpful transition into our next topic," the woman moved over to her desk and held up sheets of paper. "Drop forms."

"All those now acutely aware they do not belong in this class," Mrs Finch slapped a form onto a girl's desk, making her jaw drop. "You should fill one out." She passed one to another kid before saying, "the rest will be on my desk."

Harper stood up with the rest of the class as the lesson ended, grabbing her bag and throwing all of her belongings inside. She saw Scott at the front of the room, stood by the teacher's desk as he hesitated to take one of the forms. After a glance at Mrs Finch, he grabbed the paper and slipped it into his bag.

The brunette swallowed as she walked past the letters, not bothering to pick one up. Scott was already waiting for her outside the classroom, so she grabbed his wrist and moved him to the side.

"You're making a mistake," Harper assured him. "You need this to get into the school you want, to become a vet like you want."

Scott sighed. "I don't know. Maybe I should just consider a career change."

"She was disappointed when you picked up the drop form," the Empath told him. "I think you should think this through."

...

"Did you get in and see Lydia?" Scott questioned as the pack all moved around a table in the library, pulling out the wooden chairs.

Harper sighed while shaking her head. "No. I went during my free period, but she's still in the ICU and they say it's family only."

"We got one thing though," Malia slammed a massive book down on the table that was bound in leather. It echoed slightly against the oak and everybody recognised what it was before they even had to read the title. She flipped open the Bestiary- a very old book containing most things about supernatural creatures.

"Does it have anything in there about half-werewolves, half-kanimas?" Kira asked hopefully, although she had a feeling of what the werecoyote would say.

"Chimera," Harper recalled from her first class of the day, looking over to Scott who nodded at her.

Stiles blinked. "Ur, what?"

It seemed that the Stilinski boy felt a little left out not knowing what they were talking about. After all, he was meant to be the detective of the group. It was always Stiles that figured it out before reporting it back to the others. Since he had no supernatural abilities, that was his thing.

"Chimera," Scott repeated before he began to elaborate. "It's a creature made up of incongruous parts. And if Liam said he found two burial sights, that means Tracy's not the only one."

Isaac folded his arms across his chest from where he stood next to the table. He peered down at the cartoon that portrayed an exaggerated Chimera in the book. It honestly looked disturbing.

"Okay, so who's the second Chimera?" Isaac asked.

"And why would they bury them?" Stiles added.

"Deaton thinks it's part of their process," replied the Alpha.

Harper hummed. "Kind of like a rebirth. Like they're not themselves anymore- at all. After all, Tracy thought she was still in a nightmare when Malia found her."

The Empath glanced over at the mentioned teenage girl, finding her still focused on the picture. 

"I think it's the people in masks."

...

Researching hadn't gone very well for the McCall pack. Night had fallen and they still hadn't found anything, resulting in Scott, Kira, Isaac and Malia all leaving. Harper was only hanging around because Stiles had insisted on staying until he figured something- anything- out. However, as she glanced up from where she had been doing some last-minute homework, she found Stiles slumped over the table.

His mouth was parted, snores coming from him as he laid his head down against the Bestiary. Shaking her head in amusement, the brunette picked up her phone and checked the time- her eyes bulging when she realised how late it had gotten. She still had to go home and take a shower yet.

"Sti," she reached forward from where she was sat across from him. Her hand shook his shoulder, making him stir but not open his eyes. "Stiles."

He groaned sleepily in response, an incoherent murmur escaping his lips.

Harper sighed. "I'm going home, Stiles. You should too, okay?"

Stiles muttered something back, but yet again it was unintelligible to her ears. Pressing a kiss to the top of his head, Harper picked up her bag and began to leave, jogging down the steps so she was on the main level of the school library.

Just as she went to leave through the main door, a small ache shot through her stomach. She paused, turning back around to see if anyone was hurt, but there were just builders doing some refurbishing.

"Cramps," she scoffed, walking away.


	30. Chapter 30

"The Dread Doctors by T.R. McCammon," Harper read out loud as she entered the school building in between Lydia and Malia the next morning.

Something about the green book that the werecoyote had shoved into her hands just a couple of seconds earlier seemed oddly familiar, but she didn't know what it was. Harper realised that she may have read it before- back in her early teen years when she had nothing better to do than just read and draw or hang out with Scott and Stiles. 

Lydia paused in the middle of the hallway as she stared at the cover. It was just three people in what looked like masks- she guessed they were the Dread Doctors.

Malia frowned. "What?"

"I don't know..." The strawberry blonde carried on walking. "There's just something about it. Has anyone actually read it yet?"

"Just me," Malia replied. "And I didn't understand a word of it."

Harper grinned slightly. "English is where my forte lies, but maybe we should all read it. Get a bunch of perspectives on it, y'know?"

Malia nodded. "Isaac's already working on that. And Stiles said he couldn't find anything on the author. He thinks it's a pen name."

Harper found the playful smile leaving her face, her heart skipping a beat at the mention of the boy that hadn't really been talking to her since last night.

Sure, it was a short amount of time to some, but he had dismissed all of her questions with blunt replies and barely looked at her... It made her feel like she had done something wrong. She hadn't had time to confront him about it yet since he was off school ill.

"'In a small New England town, teenagers are taken in the night and buried alive'," Lydia read the description on the back, Harper's eyes slightly widening at the correlation it had with their current lives.

Just last night, Tracy's body had been stolen from the animal clinic. Not only that, but Corey, a boy who had been in hospital last night after an attack from a Chimera, had also died- but his body had been taken from the morgue too. It was chilling stuff, and also something that nobody could work out.

Harper read the rest. "'Days later, they emerge transformed, wreaking havoc and spreading terror, commanded by an ancient order to parascientists known only as the Dread Doctors.'"

"Sounds vaguely familiar," Lydia remarked. "How does it end?"

"It doesn't," Malia deadpanned. "This is supposed to be volume one."

"Where's volume two?" Harper asked.

"Let me guess, there isn't one," the strawberry blonde to her left rolled her eyes.

"I think we're living volume two," Malia insisted.

"Then maybe the real question is, is this a novel or someone's prediction?"

...

Harper scribbled the answers to the equations down on her page, tapping her foot on the floor as the teacher wrote on the board at the front. Lydia was sat next to her, not doing her Maths work but instead reading the Dread Doctors book.

The Empath had only opened a few pages and already the words felt strangely familiar. She'd had to put it down once the teacher had entered the room, but her best friend clearly could afford not to listen.

"What's question three?" The Empath leaned across the desk to whisper to her friend, but Lydia didn't reply.

Her green eyes were wide and staring at the last page of the printed-out copy Isaac had given them all, but Harper couldn't see what she was looking at. Malia whirled around in her seat from in front of Lydia, frowning.

"What is it?" She whispered. "Why's your heart beating so fast?"

"Look at this," Lydia swallowed. "Look at the acknowledgements page."

Harper leaned forward in her desk, noticing the hesitation that was radiating from her best friend but deciding to ignore it. She wanted to know what it said, until she actually read it.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

'For letting me read sections to you nightly and being the subjects of volume two. This book is dedicated to Harper Valack and Harry Valack.'

Malia's eyes widened, her gaze flickering up to see what Harper's reaction would be. The brunette was stunned, unable to look away from the page. The bell rang from above them, much to her relief. Instead of sticking around, Harper grabbed her bag and rushed out of the room.

"Harper!" The werecoyote called while Lydia just sighed.

Her mind was whirling with a thousand theories a second, her heart hammering in her chest so hard that it ached. Harper made it to the girls' bathroom and shoved herself in the last stall, sitting on the toilet lid and pulling her copy of the book out of her bag.

Taking a deep breath, she skipped to the acknowledgements page, reading it once more. Then again, and again, and again. A teardrop falling from her eye and onto the printed ink below seemed to snap her out of it, making her jaw clench.

She hated that she was crying over her dad. Wiping under her eye furiously, she had to stop herself from ripping all of the pages up and flushing them. Harper wanted nothing to do with him anymore, but now apparently he might be the cause of everything going on with her and her friends right now.

Harper was embarrassed. 

She vaguely remembered her father reading to her sometimes before bed, but she had no idea what the book had been about. If anything, she had always fallen asleep because it was so boring- not because he had been a good story-teller or anything.

Also, what did he mean by her being 'the subject of volume two'? And why had he referred to her as 'Harper Valack' instead of 'Harper Verum'? So many questions clouded her thought process, her hands shaking out of fury instead of fear.

"Harper," Scott's voice called, followed by a knock on her stall door. Judging by the wary tone of his voice, he had found out. "Harper, I can hear your heartbeat. I know you're mad, but-"

"He-" Harper's fist scrunched around the paper in her hands. "He always manages to pop up out of nowhere. When he's supposed to be dead. He ruins everything."

Scott understood that her words lied deeper than with the book. She was also referring to how her own father had killed her mother, experimented on supernaturals including a brother he had kept hidden from her, then tried to do the same to her. To top it off, it looked like he was making yet another comeback.

"We're gonna work this out," he promised her, but she didn't respond.

Scott sighed from the other end of the door, leaning his forehead against it. The main doors to the bathroom opened, followed by a girly squeal of surprise. The werewolf jumped, his eyes wide.

"Um, come back later?" He suggested awkwardly, but the girl had already rushed out of the bathroom.

Harper scoffed a little, unable not to be amused by Scott and his awkward tendencies. She pulled open the stall door, immediately crashing her body against his. The taller boy wrapped his arms around her frame, squeezing her reassuringly. Her eyes were closed, her body relishing in the feeling of comfort from one of her best friends.

"Did Lydia and Malia tell you?" Harper asked quietly.

Scott shook his head. "I went to Theo for help. He saw your name in the book."

"We're really asking him for help now?" Harper raised her eyebrows, pulling away from his arms. 

"You're starting to sound a lot like Stiles," Scott hummed in amusement, but Harper didn't really smile back like she normally would have.

"I'm guessing our next step is to go and see him?" Harper swallowed, looking up into his deep, brown eyes. "At Eichen."

The Alpha nodded. "Yeah. Lydia, Kira and I are going tonight."

Harper bit her lip. "I'm coming."

"Harps-"

She cut him off with a stern look before he could respond. "He's a patient now, he can't get to me. Besides, I think I have more questions than you guys do. I either go with you tonight, or I go alone another time. I need to know why."

Scott hesitated. "Fine. But Stiles isn't going to like this."

"Stiles doesn't have to know."

...

Scott told Stiles.

Now, Harper stood in the middle of his room watching as her boyfriend shuffled around with a cotton jacket, his skin a lot paler than usual. His jittery movements didn't go unnoticed by the brunette either. Between his lack of communication with her and now this, she was starting to become concerned.

"You're not going to Eichen House," he insisted. "Are you crazy? Absolutely out of your mind?" He ranted, making Harper roll her eyes. "This is... The fact that Scott even agreed makes him just as insane."

Sighing, the brunette stood up straighter in an attempt to make herself seem bigger than she really was. When it came to intimidating people, it seemed to be her size that usually let her down. She knew all Stiles had to do was throw her over his shoulder and she wasn't coming back down until he put her down.

"Yeah, well, no offence Stiles, but it's not really your decision to make," Harper declared confidently, "and I know my dad better than anybody else. I'll know what to ask and when he's lying or not. Plus, I have some things I wanna ask him myself, anyway."

"No way. No way. I am not letting you go to the place that you wants to lock you up and keep you as a freaking science experiment, Harper!" Stiles seethed, taking a step towards her.

She noticed how on edge he was acting, but she didn't back down.

"Deaton says he's locked up behind some big, unbreakable glass wall. There's no way he's getting to me from in there," she convinced. "And anyway- I'm not scared of him anymore, I'm just mad. And I want answers."

His eyes softened slightly, realising how confused Harper must be feeling right now. They all wanted to know what involvement Valack had with the Dread Doctors, but this meant arguably more to Harper than anyone else. This was her own dad, for goodness sake.

When Scott had told him to read the acknowledgements page of 'The Dread Doctors', Stiles couldn't believe it when he saw his own girlfriend's name in it. Or at least the name that her dad had given her- for what reason the pack did not know yet. He was worried about how she would take it, but instead of being upset- she just felt angry.

"Yeah, I get that, but it's not safe," Stiles repeated.

"That's why Scott and Kira are coming with Lydia and I. As soon as we get what we need from him, we're leaving." 

Swallowing, Stiles hesitated for a moment before he threw his jacket over himself. Harper noticed how his face scrunched up slightly as he rolled his shoulders to get his arms inside, a small grunt escaping his thin lips.

"What was that?" Harper murmured, a 'V' forming in between her eyebrows as they rugged down into a frown.

Stiles paused. "What was what?"

"You winced when you put your jacket on. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," he dismissed her concern. "Just hurt my elbow, that's all."

"Really?" Harper scoffed. "Because I could have sworn that you winced when you moved your shoulder."

"Shoulder, elbow. They're all connected. Pain radiates, y'know."

"Yeah, I know," the brunette chuckled dryly. "I also know that pain can radiate from one person to another, so maybe you should just tell me what's actually wrong before I connect to you." 

"Can you please just trust me when I say that it's nothing?" Stiles sighed. "And stop trying to change the subject here. Since I know I'm not going to change your mind, and legally I can't keep you here, I'm coming with you, okay?"

Harper pursed her lips, a small smile playing on her face as she nodded. Before Stiles could change his mind, Harper took off out of his bedroom where Lydia, Scott and Kira were waiting outside.

It was time to see her father: Gabriel Valack.


	31. Chapter 31

It was night when they left for Eichen House, making the building all that more intimidating. While Harper had been so angry before, now that she stood outside it, knowing her father was inside and she was about to see him again, she felt herself grow a little bit nervous.

Lydia and Kira were pressing the button by the gate for somebody to let them in while Stiles, Scott and Harper remained by the jeep. Harper glanced up at her boyfriend, finding him playing with his hands in an anxious manner. She frowned, just as Scott came over and noticed the same thing.

"You two gonna be okay in there?" He asked them both sincerely.

"Yeah, why?" Stiles furrowed his brows.

"Well, for starters, Harper has never liked this place, and secondly you seem a little off," Scott narrowed his eyes at the Stilinski boy, Harper nodding her head in agreement.

"I think we're all a little off."

"Yeah, some of us more than others," Scott glanced over his shoulder at Kira.

The Empath grew concerned. "What's wrong with her?"

"Well, when the other Chimera, Lucas, when he came after us, I heard Kira say something in Japanese," Scott began, lowering his voice so that his girlfriend didn't hear him discussing her issues with his best friends.

"That doesn't sound too bad," Stiles shrugged, a blank look on his face.

"She doesn't know any Japanese," Scott declared.

"I speak Latin in my sleep sometimes," Harper muttered back. "And the only word I know in Latin is my own surname. Maybe it's just like... her supernatural side coming out more?"

"Yeah, well, I also think I might have stopped her from killing Lucas," Scott's eyes were a little wide as he remembered the scene that had gone down in the club while they were trying to protect Liam and Mason.

Harper's lips parted in shock. "Kill him? That doesn't sound like Kira at all. She'd never do something like that."

Scott nodded in agreement, thankful that at least one of his friends was as concerned as he was. Meanwhile, Stiles remained silent, a look in his eye that Scott couldn't quite describe.

Stiles hesitated before he asked, "but wasn't he trying to kill you though? I mean, that just sounds like self-defence."

"It was more than that," the werewolf shook his head. "She nearly took off his head."

Harper shuddered, but Stiles' face just hardened slightly. "Maybe she had no choice," he defended, "there's gotta be a point where self-defence is justified. Tracy killed her own father. And Lucas would have killed you."

"They're not the bad guys," Scott reminded him softly. "They're the victims. We shouldn't be killing the people we're trying to save."

There was a moment of silence before a loud buzzing noise came from behind them. Scott and Harper turned around to see the gate door slide open, groaning as it did so. Biting down on her bottom lip, she swallowed all of her fears and began to walk towards it. She missed the way Scott and Stiles glanced at each other from behind her, but she still felt their concern.

The group of five teenagers made their way up the stairs, Harper leading the way next to Scott when the gates suddenly slammed shut from behind them. Everybody winced and turned, Harper's heart skipping a beat at the sight. She felt a little claustrophobic knowing she couldn't leave now unless they let them out, but she shook it off. Lydia sent her a worried look, but Harper didn't meet her green eyes.

...

"Please empty your pockets into the container," the man from behind the reception desk told them all. His voice was disturbingly monotone, his eyes too wide for his face.

Scott cleared his throat. "Ur, we're here to see-"

"Please empty your pockets into the container," he repeated, this time a little more firmly.

The Alpha looked back at his friends to see their reactions, but they were already shuffling through their pockets to get everything out. He did the same. Harper placed her phone into the plastic box as well as her car keys and a pack of gum, the rest of the pack following.

The receptionist stared down Kira, his eyes landing on the belt around her waist that was actually a sword.

"Please remove your belt and place it into the container," he smirked a little, making Harper feel very uncomfortable.

"I kind of need the belt," Kira squeaked. "I mean, it's crucial to the outfit."

"Please remove your belt which patients will attempt to take from you and use to strangle either themselves or others," the man insisted.

"Right. Got it."

She quickly undid the belt and placed it with everything else, the man continuing to just stare at them. Harper moved closer to Lydia, hating the way that he was look in between them both. He probably recognised them from the incident a few months ago.

Another buzz came from behind them and an old man slipped through the door. He looked at the group of teenagers and nodded, indicating them to follow him. Stiles reached down and grasped Harper's hand as they began to walk behind him down the sprialling staircase.

"I'll remind you that I'm only doing this is a favour to Deaton," he spoke. "And I'm doing it against my better judgement. While you're down here, try not to make eye contact with anyone... or anything."

They made their way into the supernatural part of the asylum, the same place that Harper had found Harry in. She recognised the fluorescent, yellow lights from her distant memories, making her shudder a little. The fact that her father wasn't far away now was also making her heartbeat go a little quicker.

Just as they got to a locked door, Harper realised that Scott and Kira weren't following, causing her to look back. They stood in the middle of the hallway, looking around in confusion.

"You didn't think you were all going, did you?" The man questioned.

"It's Mountain Ash," Scott realised. "Isn't it?"

"Everywhere," he nodded. "But heavily concentrated down here." He slid his keycard through the machine, making the door beep open. "Valack's cell is the last one at the end of the hall."

Lydia and Stiles glanced back at Scott and Kira worriedly, but Harper remained her gaze on the long hall that she had already been down with Jeremy before.

"We'll be right here," Scott reassured them.

Harper walked through the door, feeling Stiles press his hand against her back reassuringly. Lydia followed as the man shut the door behind them. The hallway was barely lit and freezing cold, making the brunette shiver. Doors were placed either side of the walls, but Harper didn't look into them- she was focused on the last cell.

Just as Deaton had said, it was made of glass, giving Harper a perfect view of her father. He looked like he was meditating, his head tilted towards the floor from where he sat on it cross-legged. Stiles's head snapped away from where he had been staring into another cell nervously, his eyes landing on his girlfriend's father.

He recognised Gabriel Valack from when they were younger. Stiles had met him maybe twenty times in the three years that he had been around before the Eichen shooting, other than that he had always been at work or locked away in his study. However, despite the six or so years since he had last seen the man, he still looked the same. Now, he just had that stupid bandage around his forehead and he wasn't in a suit like always.

Slowly, Valack looked up from the floor, his eyes not yet looking at Harper but at her boyfriend. She swallowed but her gaze hardened, feeling furious at the man behind the glass.

"Tell me what you just saw, Stiles," he demanded. "The creature in the previous cell. The Sluagh. The myth is that they can take on the appearance of the lost souls that have become inextricably bound to it. Happen to have seen any lost souls, Mr Stilinski?"

"Everyone down here," Stiles' voice came out weaker than he had expected it to since he had tried to sound mad at the man that he had grown to hate.

"Don't give up on us yet," Valack smirked. "We're all works-in-progress." His gaze finally flickered over to his daughter. "I see you found my little dedication."

Harper clenched her jaw, not speaking as Stiles pulled out the copy of The Dread Doctors, holding it up so that Valack could see it.

Harper's dad grinned, a glint in his eye. "Very nice. First edition. Of course, there was only one printing."

Lydia pursed her lips. "There's no T.R. McCannon is there? You wrote the book."

He smiled. "No. That's right, Lydia. Harper, you must remember this book? I used to read it to you until your mother said it was morbid. This is what made her realise the truth."

Harper's hands balled up into fists, her nose turning up at the mention of the woman that he had murdered. She swallowed, glaring at her father with so much hatred that if looks could kill, he would actually be six foot under this time.

"When you say the truth you mean the fact that you're a psychopath? Or that you never really loved us or Harry's mother?" Harper seethed, not missing the shocked glint in his eye when she mentioned her half-brother.

"Something like that," he smiled at her. "But you have to trust me, Harper. This is all for a greater cause. I'm onto something here."

Stiles' jaw clenched. "You're an asshole."

Valack ignored him. "Maybe you've already guessed that it's not just a book."

"What is it?" Lydia also glared, feeling repulsed by the man now stood in front of them.

"A tool. Designed to open your eyes."

"To what?" Harper folded her arms against her chest.

"To them," he replied. "The Dread Doctors."

"Why did you use a pseudonym?" Lydia questioned.

"As Harper and Stiles would know, I had a professional reputation once. I wasn't interested in ruining it by putting my name on a second-rate piece of trash."

"Then why write the book in the first place?" Stiles rolled his eyes.

"You haven't even read it yet, have you? I wrote it because nobody believed me, and for my research," Valack glanced between the three wary teenagers. "They're here, aren't they? In Beacon Hills."

Harper unfolded her arms from against her chest. "What are the Dread Doctors?"

"Not entirely human. At least not anymore," her father explained, his blue eyes locked on her and her only. "They were scientists once. Scientists who worshipped the supernatural. Tesla said, 'if you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency and vibration'. They found their secrets in electromagnetic forces, ways to prolong their lives, give them power. And most importantly- making you forget you ever saw them."

"What do they want?" Lydia asked shakily.

"Good question, Lydia," Valack answered. "Everybody wants something, don't they?"

"What do you want?" Harper glared.

He took out a recording device from his pocket and put it in the hole in his door that allowed people to give him things from the other side, or in this case, for him to give them something.

"Hit record," he demanded.

Lydia hesitated. "What do you want me to say?"

"I don't want you to say anything. I want you to scream."

The strawberry blonde reached in and grabbed the recording device, only for Stiles to snatch it out of her hands automatically.

"No way," he shook his head. "No way. Not happening. Sorry."

Lydia hissed, "he's the only one that knows anything!"

"He's a psychopath that murders innocent supernaturals for his own curiosity!" Harper replied. "And he drilled a bloody hole into his head. He's probably lying his arse off."

"How many have died so far?" Valack yelled from his cell. "All of them teenagers, am I right? Want to know how many died the first time they came here? I wonder how many will die if they succeed?"

The lights began to flicker, making Stiles and Harper glance around worriedly.

"This did happen before," Lydia muttered, not phased.

"And now they're back. All because a few teenagers, who never even considered the consequences, decided to reignite a supernatural force they barely understand," his voice came out so harsh that it reminded Harper of when he would scold her as a child.

"How do you know about the Nemeton?" The brunette questioned.

"I know because I saw it."

Valack then reached for his bandage, ripping it off. Harper grimaced at the bloody hole in the centre of his head, her heart leaping in her chest when she saw the eye that Deaton had described inside. It blinked at them, making Stiles grab her arm.

The lights began to flicker more, making Valack glance up.

"Who did you come with?" He demanded.

"Our friends," Lydia answered warily.

"What are they?"

"Don't answer," Stiles warned the two girls.

Valack seethed, already knowing. "You brought a Kitsune."

The light above them burst, making Harper and Lydia release small shrieks. They were left in semi-darkness, only just able to see Valack who appeared panicked on the other side of the glass cell.

"What's happening?" Harper's anger seemed to melt away as she became worried.

"She's disrupting the building's defences," Valack answered. "It's not just the Mountain Ash that keeps this building secure. It's the electromagnetic energy. Eichen is built on the convergence of telluric currents. Ley lines. It's what allows it to keep certain supernatural creatures in, and certain others out."

A whirring came from somewhere, making Stiles' grip on Harper's arm tighten.

"They knew you were coming. They're here. And you unlocked the door for them," Valack growled. "I'll give you an option. One that I'm pretty sure I already know the answer to. Leave Harper here with me or hit record."

Harper was a little stunned that he wanted her to stay with him, all for bad reasons, she knew. Her mind went blank trying to come up with ideas on why he would want her there when the Dread Doctors arrived in the first place.

Stiles pulled her back, glaring protectively. "Hell no."

"Then hit record!" Valack yelled, slamming his hands against the glass. "Do it now. It costs you nothing."

"But it's worth something to you, so you're not getting it for free," The Stilinski boy muttered. "What does the book do?"

"I told you! It opens your eyes."

"How?" Lydia demanded to know.

"It triggers the memory centres of the brain, clearing the fog and bringing the images of the Dread Doctors into focus," he looked over at his daughter. "Harper it will be different for you."

The brunette's brows furrowed. "How-"

Valack cut her off. "I wrote the book for you, Harper. If you've seen them, which you have, then the book will help you remember. It will trigger your memory. You weren't interested in reading it at a young age, and it wasn't complete yet. So I would read it to you—"

"But then mum found out," Harper breathed, startled that she somehow had a deeper link with this book than she originally thought.

That could mean she had something to do with the Dread Doctors too, causing her stomach to twist.

"Do you remember what the book says?" Valack asked, frowning when she shook her head. "Then you need to read the book. The suppressed memories will surface, and then you need to come back to me. You need to tell me what you saw."

"Why should she?" Stiles seethed, placing his hand on her shoulder. "After everything you've done to her?"

"Why do you think I've spent over twenty years studying Empaths?" Valack gritted his teeth, his blue eyes darting between Stiles and Harper. "Why do you think I experimented on your mum and Harry, and why I needed you?"

Harper gulped, however the glare on her boyfriend's face only hardened. He felt sick staring at the man that he had grown to hate almost as much as Harper. He'd ruined her life, and for that he would never, ever have any sympathy for him.

"Because the Empath may be the only thing that can stop them! This is what my entire life has been invested in! My study was just a place that I wrote this book, at work I would experiment on other creatures, all of this- all of this has built up to now, Harper." He turned to Lydia, "now, hit record!"

Tears were falling as Lydia snatched the recorder from Stiles' hands and switched it on. Slowly, she raised it to her red-painted lips and she screamed. Harper and Stiles held their hands to their ears, ducking their heads. When they let go, Lydia had placed the recorder back into the slot in the door and now an alarm was blaring through the speakers.

"Tell us what they want," Lydia demanded.

Harper looked around. "Lyds, we gotta go."

"Read the book!" He yelled. "Anyone that's come into contact with them."

Harper stole one last glance at her dad before Stiles was dragging her down the hall. The trio took off in a sprint, Valack's words echoing in their brains. They ducked into a hallway, the whirring noises becoming louder.

"Shit," Stiles cursed, pressing his back up against the wall.

He held Harper close to his chest, his arm around her shoulders in a protective stance. Lydia breathed heavily from next to them, her green eyes bulging as they watched them walk into the supernatural unit where Valack was.

Harper's entire body went rigid as her father's scream echoed down the hall before there was just an eerie silence. The tears that had been streaming down her face from before stopped, her breath hitching in her throat as she listened out for something- anything.

Suddenly, a low hum came from around them as the power switched pack on, the hallway lighting back up.

"I think we're okay," Lydia's body sagged in relief.

Harper swallowed, pulling herself away from Stiles who was still holding her close to him. Both teenagers stared at her wearily, as if waiting for her to burst into tears or something. But she didn't.

"Let's go home," she whispered numbly.


	32. Chapter 32

Harper didn't sleep a wink last night. All she could think about was her father and everything that he had told her, his voice burning her brain. His last words were demanding that she and her friends read his book, but she honestly wasn't sure that she wanted to. Valack had told her that it would be different for her, and she had no clue what that meant. Good different or bad different? Knowing Harper's luck, it was probably the latter one.

The brunette packed the concealer on under her eyes, pressing it down with the tips of her fingers just as Malia came into the room. Harper wasn't shocked to find that the werecoyote had just wandered in. At the start, it was so that she could sleep in the same bed as Harper, but now that Malia had Isaac it was for him. However, the Tate girl still liked to visit her closest friend.

"Hey," the short-haired girl greeted quietly, knowing exactly what kind of mood Harper was in.

The entire pack had been informed via a group chat that Harper wasn't involved in last night, and so they all promised to look out for her as much as they could without totally smothering her. Malia could sense Harper's tiredness, making her frown a little as she took a seat on the end of her bed.

"Hey, Malia," Harper managed a small smile, pressing the last of her concealer in.

Harper moved over to her bag while the werecoyote sat in silence, looking around the room for anything to spark conversation. Her eyes landed on all of the polaroids that Harper had pinned to one of her noticeboards, a smile crossing her face when she saw some of herself.

She glanced back at the Empath, her smile dropping when she realised that Harper was having a hard time doing up the laces of her white pumps.

Quickly, Malia moved down and brushed Harper's shaking hands away, kneeling in front of her while she tied them up. Harper stared at her for a few moments, saying nothing as she pursed her lips.

"Thanks," Harper swallowed thickly, not meeting Malia's eye as the werecoyote glanced up at her.

Malia sighed as she moved to the other shoe, not replying.

"Why are your hands shaking?" She asked once she had finished, standing up so that she more than Harper's height again.

Harper shrugged. "I don't know."

"Did you sleep okay last night?" Malia questioned, one brow raised.

"Yeah, yeah. It was fine," the brunette lied.

Malia glanced over at Harper's bed, finding that it was pristine. The covers weren't turned over like aways and there was no dent in the pillows. Her scent didn't linger there and Malia knew that was because Harper hadn't even gotten into the bed last night. She chose not to say anything though, since the last thing anyone needed was Harper being upset with the pack.

"Right," Malia nodded warily before remembering why she entered the room in the first place, her eyes lighting up. "Well, you left your phone downstairs, and Stiles called. He says he's on his way to pick you up."

"I drive myself to school now," Harper frowned.

"Yeah, but he said he was ditching the first few periods to go to his dad's office," Malia shrugged in return. "I'm coming with."

"What about Isaac?"

"He's not really talking to me right now, actually," the Tate girl huffed. "He's kinda pissed that I hung out with Theo last night instead of him."

Harper's eyes practically bulged out of their sockets, her body whirling around to face Malia. She moved pretty quick, feeling her head go a little fuzzy- most likely from the lack of sleep.

"Why were you hanging out with Theo?" Harper gaped.

"He offered to give me a driving lesson in his car," Malia shrugged. "I don't know. He was just being nice, but I ended up having a vision."

"A vision?"

"Mhm, like, ur, Valack said we would," Malia hesitated to say his name, but Harper's expression didn't change anyway. "It was the night of the crash. Theo took me to Isaac, but he wasn't happy, I guess."

Before Harper had the chance to reply, the front door swung open from downstairs, Stiles yelling out Harper's name, a shriek of surprise following.

"Does every teenager in Beacon Hills have a key to my house?" They heard Melissa gasp, startled by Stiles' entrance.

"Right," Harper picked up her bag. "Ready to go?"

Malia nodded with a small smile. "To Stilinski."  
...

Noah crossed out a picture of Tracy from his noticeboard using red Sharpie, indicating her death. He stared at her face for a few moments, his own fallen in disappointment. It was obvious that the Sheriff was feeling let down he wasn't able to help.

"Chimeras," he muttered.

"Two dead Chimeras," Harper sighed.

"And eight new ones," added Malia.

Stiles finished, "that's ten in total."

"I'm thinking maybe eleven," Sheriff Stilinski admitted, his back still turned to the teenagers as he added another picture to the board, securing it in place with a pin.

Harper's eyebrows raised a little at the sight of Donavon who she actually hadn't heard a lot about in a while. The last anyone had seen of him was when Tracy attacked the station. He had been in the jail cell, but he disappeared after. All security footage had been cut out.

"Our station tech guys confirmed something for me," Noah continued. "they said, both the holding cell lock and the cameras could have malfunctioned because of something electromagnetic." He glanced at his desk, picking up Valack's book. "You said that, uh, these guys-"

"Dread Doctors," Malia automatically corrected him.

Noah scrunched his face up. "Are we really calling them that?"

Harper ignored him. "So, they broke Donavon out of the holding cell? Then turned him into a Chimera like the others?"

"That's how they got into Eichen, isn't it?" Sheriff Stilinski shrugged.

Malia nodded. "Donavon's a Chimera." She agreed, stepping closer to the board as she stared at his face pictured in black and white. 

Harper felt panic coming from beside her, her face turning to see Stiles facing the ground. Frowning, she planted a hand on his arm reassuringly, trying to push some relaxing energy into him.

"Hey, don't worry," she murmured quietly. "I'm sure Scott will come up with something to keep your dad safe, if Donavon even tries anything."

Stiles glanced up at her, but as soon as their eyes met he tore them away like he couldn't handle looking into them. She sensed guilt there, making her heart thud. He'd been acting like this for a couple of days now.

Immediate conclusions sprung to her head, but she tried to push them away. Stiles would never do anything to intentionally hurt her, right?

The brunette felt a little hurt that he couldn't even look into her eyes for a second, her hand moving away from her arm and back to her side.

"But is he a failure like Lucas and Tracy?" Sheriff Stilinski asked.

Harper walked closer to them. "If he is, he's probably already dead."

Malia nodded in agreement, lifting up the red marker to cross off his face. Noah stopped her by gently clasping her wrist, shaking his head.

"Not until I've seen a body," he insisted.

There was a small silence until Sheriff Stilinski turned around, finding Stiles with his back to them in the corner. He was clasping his hands together, something he did often when he was nervous. Harper bit down on her lip, her worry sparking further.

"You're uncharacteristically quiet," his father noted, making him turn around.

"Sorry," Stiles swallowed. "Uh, I'm just uh.. Just trying to think about it. Uh... these are all teenagers, right? So, now, I mean, shouldn't we be trying to figure out why these teenagers? If the Dread Doctors, if they went through all that, burying them, killing them, breaking one of them out of jail..."

"They could have been chosen at random," Noah shook his head, his arms folded against his chest.

"They had to have had something in common," Malia disagreed.

"Something that made them right for this experiment," Noah hummed.

"Something that made them special."

...

"My mum's book club usually has more wine," Lydia retorted in an attempt to lift the spirits as the pack all crowded around the coffee table in the McCall household.

On top laid about eight copies of the book 'The Dread Doctors', all of which were going to get read tonight. Much to Harper's surprise, Theo was there too. Scott had asked for his help, claiming they needed as much as they could get. To say both Isaac and Stiles were displeased would be an understatement.

"Yeah, and they probably didn't read books that caused violent hallucinations," Stiles added, rolling his hazel eyes. 

"That's why Malia's here," Scott nodded to the werecoyote, who sent him a smile.

"So none of us go running off into traffic?" Kira scoffed. 

"Or worse," Isaac muttered.

"Like what happened to Judy," Malia said absentmindedly, frowning when she saw how the pack looked at her in confusion. "Chapter fourteen."

"Maybe I should get my mum to read it," Lydia huffed, picking up the original copy from off the table. "She might remember a girl with a tail leaping off the ceiling and attacking everyone."

"It it works," Harper spoke up for the first time that evening, picking a printed copy and grimacing at it.

"It has to."

"Why?"

"Because I think I saw them during my surgery," Lydia admitted with a small sigh. "When I look at the cover of the book, it's almost like..."

"A memory trying to resurface," Theo finished for her, making everybody glance at him and Lydia nodded.

Kira looked over at Harper. "Isn't that what your dad wanted when he wrote it?"

The brunette nodded, feeling sick to her stomach at the title that Kira had given him. She wanted to tell her not to call him that, but she didn't want to seem like some dramatic, heartbroken teenage girl, so she kept her mouth shut.

"He wrote it for Harper," Isaac recalled what Lydia had told them all this morning at school while Malia, Stiles and Harper had been at the station with Noah. "For you to remember, Harper."

Stiles huffed, "yeah, and he also said that it would be different for you. Maybe you shouldn't read it."

Harper swallowed. "If they did something to me like he said then I want to know what it was."

Lydia nodded along in agreement, about to say the same thing. Visions of them during her surgery kept popping up randomly and it was starting to impact her negatively.

"The book was written for her," Theo reminded Stiles, making her boyfriend glare slightly. Even Isaac looked a little pissed off, no longer thinking that the Stilinski boy was crazy for hating Theo so much. "If anyone here's gonna get something from reading it, it will be Harper."

"Theo's right," she sighed, though she didn't want to admit it. "My da- he said that Empaths have something to do with stopping the Dread Doctors, right? What if he put something in here I can get, but you guys can't?"

Everyone went silent, knowing that the brunette was right. Licking his bottom lip, Stiles reached down and grabbed a copy off of the table, everybody else following.

...

Harper sat on the couch in between Malia and Stiles, the book on her lap as she leaned forwards, reading it. As her eyes processed the words on the page, it was like she could hear her father reading it to her instead of her own mind. But his voice was a little softer, like how he would speak when he read to her as a child.

She was shocked that her father would read a young girl something like this, until she remembered who her dad was. Her mother was right for calling him out about it being morbid. Right now, some girl named Judy was smashing into the head of a girl called Amy with a bat. 

"Anyone feeling anything yet?" She heard Scott call, but she didn't look up.

"Tired," Kira muttered while Lydia sighed, "hungry."

"I think he meant the book," Theo sent a smile in Lydia's direction, but she just blinked at him before turning away, holding her head in her hand.

"Harper," Stiles nudged her, making her finally look up from the book. "Maybe you should take a break and try not to overwhelm yourself."

"Yeah," Lydia nodded in agreement. "Can you get me a drink?"

The brunette raised her eyebrows, folding the page that she was on and throwing it onto the coffee table.

"I'll make coffee for everyone," she insisted. "We're gonna need all the caffeine we can get if we're gonna keep reading this absolute rubbish."

Stiles followed her out into the kitchen, insisting on helping. While they waited for the kettle to boil, Stiles sat on one of the barstools, leaning over it and rubbing his shoulder. Harper's face dropped from where she had been putting sugar in all of the mugs.

Instead of asking, she secretly connected to her boyfriend, immediately wincing at the pain that shot through her shoulder. She dropped the spoon, the metal clanging against the fragile cup and making Stiles' head shoot up.

"You okay?" He asked.

Harper played dumb. "My shoulder hurts."

Stiles pursed his lips nervously. "What did you do to it?"

Harper shrugged, "I don't know. Why don't you tell me?"

Realising that she had connected to him, Stiles froze. His hand moved away from his shoulder that he had been unconsciously rubbing, a guilty look shining in his eyes.

"It was the hood of the jeep," he claimed— an obvious lie to the Empath. "It came down on my shoulder when I was trying to fix it the other night."

"Let me see it," Harper demanded.

"What? No," Stiles moved back in his seat, suddenly growing defensive.

"I don't know why you're lying to me, Stiles, and I don't know why you've been acting so strange the past couple of days, but you're starting to make me really worried," she admitted. "Please. If there's anyone you can trust, it's me."

Stiles' eyes were trained on the counter top in front of him, tears burning as he glanced back up at his girlfriend. He knew she was right- he trusted Harper even more than he trusted his own father or Scott.

"I don't want you to hate me," he whispered, his voice cracking a little. "I don't want you to be scared of me either."

Harper swallowed. "Did... did you cheat on me?"

Stiles' entire face contorted into one of disbelief. "What?" He gaped incredulously. "Why the hell would you think I was cheating on you?"

"Just... the way you don't like to meet my eye. And you didn't want me touching you, and you lied that you were sick. I don't know," Harper shook her head. "I know I overthink a lot, I just don't know what else could make me hate you. There is nothing else."

Standing up from the seat, he moved around to her side and grasped her arms firmly, his face leaning down to look at her.

"I would never," he promised. "I don't need to be with anyone else and I don't even want to be with anyone else. Not in a million years."

"So will you tell me the truth then?" Harper begged, her voice low so that the others wouldn't hear them. "Please."

Stiles hesitated. His jaw clenched a little as he swallowed thickly and glanced back into the living room where the others were. He caught sight of Theo in an armchair, his back to them as he held up his copy of the book, but his head was tilted to the side as if he had been listening the whole time.

"Not here," the hazel-eyed boy pursed his lips, "somewhere private."

"My room?" Harper suggested.

"No. Outside," he grasped her hand and pulled her to the back door, slipping out onto the patio.

Harper shivered in the night air, wondering what was so secret that they had to be outside the house for him to say. He was pacing a little, running a hand through his hair. Harper sensed his nerves and grabbed his arm, tugging him back to face her.

"Stiles," she warned. "You're starting to scare me."

"That's exactly what I don't want," he muttered, his bottom lip trembling a little. "I have no idea how to say this."

"Spit it out before you make me panic," Harper pleaded.

There was about thirty seconds of silence before Stiles finally said something.

"You were right," he blurted, making her frown in confusion. "What you said at the Sheriff's station, about Donavon probably already being dead. You were right. He is dead."

Harper's brows knitted together. "How do you know? Was he a Chimera too?"

Stiles ran his hand down his throat, closing his eyes momentarily before he sighed. "I know... I know because it was me."

"I— I don't understand," the brunette whispered, her eyes studying him as if waiting for him to crack a smile and say he was joking.

"I killed Donavon."

Harper froze, and Stiles didn't miss it.

He was pretty sure his heart had shattered the second he saw her eyes widen, an emotion he couldn't detect running through them. Harper gulped, pursing her lips to spot some sign of a lie. Stiles was telling the truth.

"You killed him?" She whispered.

"It was self-defence," Stiles told her quickly. "I— he was going to kill me, I had no choice. I didn't even mean to, I—"

He stumbled over his words as he watched her, unable to continue with the sight in front of him. Harper just looked so shocked and confused that he found every emotion he had experienced that night replaying over and over again, preventing him from finishing his sentence.

"Please," he pleaded, tears falling from his eyes. "Please tell me what you're thinking right now."

It was times like this that he wished he was an Empath. Usually, his girlfriend was pretty easy to read— she wore her expressions like an open book, to him at least. However, right now he didn't have a clue and it was terrifying, his heart pounding in his chest and bile rising to his throat.

"Did you cover up the body?" Harper finally asked, her tone firm as she made eye contact with him. He was shocked. "Did you leave evidence behind that you did it?"

"No, I— someone took the body, just like they did with Tracy," Stiles swallowed, a tear falling down his cheek as he remembered the night. "Why— why aren't you running away from me right now?"

"Because it's you, Stiles," Harper admitted, her voice still low. "And I know it was self-defence. And— and you don't deserve to go away for it. I can't let you go away for it."

His erratic heart started to calm down, realising that this hadn't made Harper scared of him. Stiles ran a hand through his hair, his eyes softening at her words.

"It- it all happened so quickly," Stiles muttered, brushing away his tears with his hands. "I was trying to fix the jeep, and he came up behind me with teeth in his hands. He bit my shoulder- so I hit him with a wrench and I just ran."

Harper released a shaky breath. "You ran home?"

"That's not what killed him," he closed his eyes, the image burning in his brain. "We were in the library, and he was chasing me up the scaffolding. He told me- he told me he was going to kill me and then my dad. So I pulled a pin to try and get him off me. But the poles fell— and I heard it before I saw it. It went straight through him. There was blood everywhere. It was— it was awful. And whenever I go to sleep, all I can see is his face staring at me."

Harper grabbed his hands and squeezed them. "You're not a murderer, Stiles. You didn't mean to kill him, okay? What you did was justifiable, all right? Everything's gonna be okay."

He began to cry a little harder. "I killed him!"

"Shh. No, no, baby," Harper hushed him, pulling him to a hug as he cried on her shoulder. "Sti, you aren't a killer. You're not cold-hearted or murderous. You did what you had to do. You saved your dad's life."

"Everybody's gonna hate me when they find out the truth," he whimpered, "Scott's gonna hate me."

Harper's hand stroked down his back as she shook her head, "Scott could never hate you, Sti. When you're ready to tell him, I'm sure he'll be ready to sit and listen, and he'll react just like I did— he'll be there to help you."

"You think?" He mumbled.

"Scott's the most understanding out of all of us," Harper reminded him, "and you're his best friend in the entire world. I promise he won't hate you."

Stiles was still crying, his tears leaking through the thin material of Harper's shirt and making her shoulder wet. Not that she cared, though. She brushed her fingers through his dark hair, an act that she knew he found comfort in.

"Okay, okay. If you can't forgive yourself, put yourself in someone else's shoes."

"Who's?" Stiles sniffled.

"Um, mine," Harper suggested. "My shoes, okay? Imagine I was you. Imagine he hurt me, and he threatened to kill me and your dad, and he was about to do it— so I saved myself. Would you think I was a murderer? Would you blame me?"

Stiles rubbed his face with his hands. "I wouldn't," he admitted. "But we're not the same person. You're a better person that I am, Harper."

"That's not true, Stiles," Harper stated firmly. "You have a heart of gold, everybody knows that."

He ignored her, "I should of— I could have found another way."

Harper shook her head. "People don't think like that in life or death situations, Sti. You're a human being, one that will make mistakes over time. If you had of let him get away, your dad could be dead right now. You could be dead right now."

Swallowing thickly, Stiles nodded. His hazel eyes were rimmed red, making her sigh sympathetically. Reaching up, she pressed her lips against his and took him into a slow, passionate kiss.

"Then what would I do, huh?" She mumbled, her arms wrapped around his neck. "I can't live in a world without you, Stiles, and so— in some maybe sick way— I'm just so glad that you're the one that's okay. Cause if you hadn't of been, I would have been crushed. And so would your dad, and Scott, and everybody else."

"I love you," Harper murmured. "I love you more than anything in this entire world, and what you've done doesn't change that. Not at all."

"I love you too," he whispered, clinging onto her for dear life. 

...


	33. Chapter 33

Harper's eyes flickered open, blinking swiftly at the amount of sunlight managing to pour through her windows and onto her face. Usually it was never this bright in the mornings. The brunette pushed herself off of her pillow, her forehead wrinkling when she realised something was attached to it.

She pulled off the bright yellow sticky note, reading it while she yawned into her hand.

we know you didn't sleep the night before, so mom said it was okay for you to sleep in today. text us when you're awake and hope you slept well!   
— ur bestest friend scotty 

Smiling a little, Harper huffed as she scrunched up the paper and threw it into the bin next to her bed. Of course Scott had decided to stick it to her forehead instead of just texting her. She climbed out and headed downstairs, scratching her head which was sporting some of the toughest bed-hair ever seen.

Harper decided on fruit for breakfast. Normally it was just a breakfast bar, but since she decided that today would be about some self-care, the brunette decided to treat herself.

Harper hummed to herself as she sliced through an apple, a bang from behind her making her jump.

"Archie!" She hissed at the cat who had been spooked by nothing, a groan coming from her lips when she realised in her panic she'd cut her hand in between her finger and her thumb.

Looking down at the cut, she gritted her teeth.

But then she froze.

The crimson liquid that started to pour reminded her or something- but what that was she couldn't put her finger on. Suddenly, as she glanced up, she realised she wasn't at home anymore.

Harper was in her old house.

Not the one she'd shared with Rose, or the one in Beacon Hills before that— her home back in Brighton. More importantly, she was in her bedroom, laying across her pink bed.

Her dad sat in a chair next to her, some pages in his hands. He had his reading glasses on, his eyes frowning at the words in front of him.

"It's all wrong," he sighed, shaking his head. "I wrote some more today and it's rubbish. I can't put my name on this."

"Read me some, daddy," Young-Harper requested softly, her hand going out to hold his wrist.

Real-Harper grimaced, but she found herself wanting to know what was going to happen. She couldn't remember this at all.

Gabriel Valack smiled at her. "You'll be in the second book, Harper. It will be all about people like you. You beat the bad guys from book one."

"Princesses?" Young-Harper gasped. At age seven, she believed whole-heartedly that she was one.

"People who are empathetic," he corrected.

The seven-year-old didn't know what that meant but smiled anyway, excited that she would be in one of her father's books.

"Am I the main character?" She asked.

"You're one of them," he nodded. "You and another boy."

"Is he like me too?"

Valack smiled, running a hand through her long, brown locks that were sprawled out across her pillow. He nodded, peeling back one of the pieces of paper in his hands.

"Are you sure you want me to read this to you?" He asked.

Young-Harper nodded eagerly. "I wanna know who I'm fighting in the second book, daddy!"

Shaking his head in amusement, the father began to read out loud. Harper closed her eyes, listening to what he was saying.

"With a sob in her throat, Judy watched the Surgeon toss Aaron off the catwalk and into the dark water below. Then, the Surgeon's bright eyes fell on her. Judy recoiled, her hand falling on a large rusted wrench," Gabriel read. "Leaning forward, the Surgeon raised a gloved hand, but Judy struck out with the wrench. The large tool cracked against the side of the Surgeon's mask. He stumbled back and Judy struck him again and again."

Harper's eyes has opened and she appeared horrified at her dad's words. All she could think about was Judy striking the man and all of the blood there must have been.

So much blood.

She was trembling under her duvet, desperate for him to stop but too scared to ask.

"Gabriel!" Her mother shrieked from the doorway, "what the bloody hell are you reading to her?"

He stood up from his seat, glaring at the woman. "She wanted me to read it to her."

"She's seven, you're going to traumatise her," Monica Verum seethed, stepping in between her child and her husband. "This is morbid! What are you trying to do?"

Young-Harper was crying silently as she watched her parents fight. Real-Harper was almost as shocked, having no idea how she had forgotten this.

"Empaths are the only thing they can't make," Valack glared. "I need to know why. She saw them. She told me she saw them at school."

"Dread Doctors aren't real," Monica argued. "And you're crazy. The teacher said she fell and hit her head. She didn't see anything, it was a nightmare, Gabriel!"

"She saw them, you stupid bitch!" He suddenly grabbed his wife's arm, squeezing it and making Young-Harper scream for her mother.

"Mummy!"

"Oh my god," Harper whispered, holding her hands up to her mouth. She didn't think she could despise her father anymore than she already did.

"Let me go, Gabriel," Monica's eyes turned purple, making Young-Harper shriek out, grabbing the duvet and lifting it to just below her eyes.

Teenage-Harper's lips parted in amazement, watching as her mother used her Empathic powers to manipulate her father. Valack released the woman who immediately held her bruised wrist and looked over to the little girl on the bed.

"I'll never let anything happen to you, baby," she whispered, scooping Young-Harper into her arms and glaring at her husband with pure hatred.

Harper gasped for air, feeling oxygen fill her lungs painfully as she looked down at Archie stroking his head against her leg. Thankfully, she was back in the McCall household- but her hand was still bleeding.

She ran it under a cold tap, swallowing thickly as she closed her eyes, thinking things over. Once the bleeding had stopped, she stuck a bandaid over the cut that thankfully wasn't deep enough to need stitches. A trip to the hospital was the last thing she wanted right now.

Racing back upstairs, she ditched the fruit and grabbed her phone, immediately scrolling to the group chat.

harps  
i had my hallucination   
but i also have a feeling that was only part one

She didn't expect an immediate reply from anyone, knowing that everybody else would be at school. Harper began to brush her teeth, zoning out as she thought about what she had just experienced. It made her miss her mum a little.

Her phone buzzed, snapping her out of her thoughts. The brunette grabbed it, finding that Stiles had texted her back first. Surprise? Not really.

stiles   
you okay??  
what do you mean??

harps  
it's kinda hard to explain 

STILES IS CALLING...

Harper clicked accept, holding the phone to her ear once it had stopped ringing.

"What happened?" Her boyfriend's voice called out on the other end.

"I cut my hand, and the blood triggered it, I think. It was my dad reading The Dread Doctors to me when I was about seven, and I was crying. My mum told him to stop, and basically he told her I needed to remember them, but she said that they weren't real. They just kinda fought after that," Harper explained.

"So, you think you'll have another one?" Stiles sounded concerned.

Harper nodded, despite the fact that he obviously couldn't see her. "Yeah. He said it was different for me, right? Maybe next time I'll actually get my memory of the Dread Doctors back. He said it happened while I was at school."

"Great," her boyfriend muttered sarcastically. "Multiple hallucinations? Just great."

Mumbling went on in the background of Stiles' end, but Harper couldn't make out what they were saying.

"Babe, I gotta go. Lydia wants to go to the hospital to try and find out what she hallucinated," Stiles spoke.

Harper frowned. "Lydia had her hallucination?"

"Sounds like it. I'll explain it all to you. Meet us there?"

"Yeah. Give me a bit to get dressed and stuff."

"Right. Love you."

"Love you too."

Harper began to get dressed, putting her denim jacket over her mustard yellow shirt and some black skinny jeans. She started to brush her hair just as a bang came from downstairs, indicating that somebody had entered the house.

It was either Scott or Isaac, and they were mad. Not only could she sense it with her ability, but the person stomped up the stairs forcefully, banging their hand against the wall once they got to the top.

The brunette peeled her bedroom door open, only just catching Isaac storm into his bedroom. She heard a grunt before something smashed, making her jump. Harper rushed inside, horrified to see that he had swiped everything off of his desk in a moment of anger.

"Isaac!" Harper gasped, making the teenager turn to face her. His eyes were glowing golden. "Isaac, what happened?"

"I saw him," he spat. "I saw my dad."

Harper guessed that he had had his hallucination by now, her eyes softening as she approached him. She gently held his arm, pulling him down to sit on his bed next to her.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" She asked sweetly.

Isaac shook his head, his jaw clenched. "I wanted to talk about it with Malia, but she was too busy watching Theo fucking Raeken work out in the school gym."

Harper sighed. "I'm sure she was there for a reason, Isaac. She really loves you, you know?"

"She doesn't think there's anything wrong with him," he shook his head once more. "I hate to say it, but I believe Stiles. Theo was a dick to me back in fifth grade, now he's sucking up to Scott to be a part of the pack."

Harper patted his hand but couldn't offer any words of advice. She didn't know what to tell him, to be honest. She didn't particularly trust the new werewolf either, but it looked like it was just her, Stiles and Isaac on the same page. Everybody else thought he was God's gift.

"He won't be part of the pack," Harper assured him. "As long as Stiles remains digging, he'll find something. I swear."

Isaac nodded before looking down at the floor. His blue eyes landed on her shoe-clad feet.

"Going out?" He sighed.

She nodded. "Hospital to meet Lydia and Stiles. You wanna come? Might help take your mind off of everything."

"Okay."

...

As soon as Harper and Isaac stepped foot through the hospital's main entrance doors, the teenage girl felt an aching tightness in her lungs, so vicious that it almost took her breath away. Before having the chance to even question it, loud growls and shouts came from right around the corner, immediately making Isaac take off, his nails morphing into razor-sharp claws.

Harper rushed after him, gasping when she saw a Dread Doctor stood in the centre of the hallway. Malia was in front of it, her teeth bared as she growled. Looking past them, Harper noticed that Scott was in the elevator on the floor, Melissa beside him as she stabbed a needle into his leg that made him gasp for breath.

Melissa turned around, "Malia, come on! Run!" She screamed.

Ignoring the older woman, the werecoyote threw her fist towards its head, only for the Dread Doctor to grip her arm and pull it. Malia grunted in pain, unable to move from its hold until Isaac rushed over. He sent a powerful kick to the Dread Doctor's back, causing it to stumble and release Malia.

"Harper!" Scott cried out, his voice stained upon noticing the defenceless teenage girl stood behind the fight. "Run past them!"

Harper did as she was told, running past as Isaac and Malia worked together to push it to the left wall. As soon as Harper made into the elevator, she was kneeling by Scott's body, watching as the Dread Doctor grabbed Isaac by the neck and lifted him up.

Before it could smack its fist against his head, the werewolf managed to pull himself away. The couple took off running towards the elevator, Harper calling their names in panic when she saw the Dread Doctor right behind. Melissa was pressing down on the buttons frantically, her brown eyes horrified.

Just as they fell inside, the doors came to shut and the Dread Doctors fist slammed against it. Harper gripped Scott's arm as the tiny room they were in shook violently, the lights flickering on and off.

"It's okay," he breathed once it had stopped, his voice still wheezy.

Isaac shook his head. "This is not okay. We never should have read that book."


	34. Chapter 34

Harper stood beside Scott inside the animal clinic, a little nervous to see whoever was underneath the body bag lying on the metal slab in the centre of the room. Theo and Stiles had brought it in, saying that they had found a dead Chimera with his throat ripped out.

Without hesitation, Scott ripped off the material, revealing a boy around their age with, indeed, a ripped out throat. Blood was splattered everywhere, making flashes of red flash in Harper's vision- like some sort of slideshow that was too blurry to make out. She flinched, stumbling back a little. It felt like she was about to slip into another hallucination, but for whatever reason, she didn't.

"Do you know him?" Theo asked.

Scott nodded solemnly. "His name's Josh. He was a junior."

Harper looked at Josh sadly, but Stiles reached across and gently pulled the sheet back over his body as if he couldn't even stand to look at him anymore.

Harper didn't blame him.

The slashes across Josh's neck were brutal. Whoever had slashed it had meant to kill him, that was for sure.

"Which one did it?" The brunette frowned, glancing up at them.

"The one with the cane?" Scott questioned further.

"Yeah," was all Theo said. 

"What are we gonna do with him?" Stiles' eyes darted to Scott, which was somewhat strange since he was always the one that came up with the answers to situations like this. "We can't just set the alarm and leave. That's how Tracy disappeared. Someone's gotta stay here with him."

Theo sighed. "I'll do it," he suggested, making everybody stare at him. "It's not like I had a big Saturday night planned out."

Scott's phone began to vibrate in his back pocket. The werewolf pulled the device out, his eyes gaping at whatever was on the screen. He held the phone away from him in disbelief.

"Scott, what's happened?" Harper asked nervously.

"Another one," he gulped back. "Another Chimera."

...

"Why was she in my bedroom?" Harper hissed quietly at Liam as he guided them to where Hayden, the new Chimera, had locked herself.

"I don't know! Your room is the nicest when I realised Scott wasn't home I thought I'd let her sit on your bed instead of his," Liam panicked. "But she just locked herself in the bathroom and she's not speaking to me now."

"Wonder why," Stiles muttered sarcastically under his breath.

Ignoring the bickering going on behind him, Scott made his way over to the bathroom door and tapped on it with his knuckles gently. No response came from Hayden.

"Hayden?" He called softly. "It's Scott. I know that you're scared but we just... we wanna help." He turned back, lowering his voice to talk to Liam. "I can hear her heart beating fast. She's really freaked out. What happened?"

Liam shrugged. "She was okay when we got here," he claimed. "I went to text you for two seconds and she locked herself in."

"Why?" Stiles whispered.

"I don't know."

Harper bit her lip. "She's definitely a Chimera?"

Liam nodded before he began to explain. "She said she heard a voice saying, 'your condition improves'."

"Okay, that's unsettling..." The Stilinski boy muttered before making his way over to the bathroom door to try and attempt and get her out.

However, Harper had zoned out. Not because she meant to, but because of Liam's words. 'Your condition improves'. There was something about it that seemed too familiar to her, and she guessed that it linked in with the Dread Doctors. Flashes of red clouded her vision again, this time making her head pound.

She winced, her fingertips touching the soft skin of her forehead. It was burning up, that was for sure. As the red faded, the vision clearly not coming back to her yet, she heard Scott call her name. Her head snapped up from where she had been looking at the floor absentmindedly.

"Mm, yeah?" She murmured. "Sorry, I zoned out."

Stiles glanced at her worriedly, but Scott dismissed it. "You try talking to her. Maybe she'll feel more comfortable talking to a girl."

"Right," Harper took a deep breath before heading over to the door. "Hi, Hayden. Um, I'm pretty sure you've only met me once, and I didn't tell you, but my name's Harper. I know how terrifying this must be for you, but in order to make it better you've gotta trust my friends and I. We've been through what you're going through right now, and we can help you, too. That's all we want to do. Help you, Hayden."

There was a moment of silence before the door unlocked and creaked open a fraction, but not enough to see in. Harper glanced over her shoulder at the boys.

"Ladies first," Liam whispered. 

Harper rolled her eyes but pushed the door open anyway, coming face to face with Hayden. Except her eyes weren't brown, they were glowing golden. She held her claws to her face, breathing heavily as she looked down at them in panic.

Hayden looked to Liam. "I believe you."

...

The next day, Harper felt awful. That stupid shade of red kept filtering through her eyes like sunlight in the morning, and she had had a nightmare last night. It was like a repeat of what had happened in her hallucination, but this time her dad had ended up drilling a hole into her mother's head while she watched helplessly.

Scott and Stiles were in the library discussing the plan on keeping Hayden safe tonight at the school. Lydia had come up with some theory on disrupting the frequency, which Parrish was helping with, but Harper was too worried about whatever was going on with herself to start thinking about Hayden.

Valack had said that it would be different for her, but Harper hoped this whole thing wouldn't last long. She couldn't deal with the almost-hallucinations that seemed to be hitting her at least once every couple of hours now.

Harper was in art class, which to be fair was probably the best place she could be right now. She had a paintbrush in her hand while she made light strokes on the canvas in front of her. Shades of blue covered it, becoming a realistic version of the sky.

"Maybe you should be using a different media, Harper," her art teacher came up from behind her to say. "You're always painting. Why don't you try..." She glanced around the room. "Ink?"

"Ink," Harper repeated in a murmur before nodding her head. "Yeah, okay."

She ditched the canvas and headed over to a table, picking up a handful of bottles of ink. She got one of every colour, twisting the caps off ready to dip into. She started to trace a feather- something simple to get her in the mood of ink painting.

Just as she reached to re-dip, her arm knocked into one of the bottles. Red ink spilt everywhere, covering her blue outlining and making her gasp. It covered her hands and the paper in front of her and those stupid red flashes started to come back.

She stumbled off her seat, blinking when she realised that she was in the woods. She looked down at her hands, finding blood all over them. But as she blinked again, she realised that her art teacher was right in front of her, calling her name.

"Harper!" She shrieked. "What happened?"

The brunette looked around at all of the faces watching her and felt her mouth go dry. She stood up, grabbing her bag and slinging it over her shoulder. She didn't care that the red ink had just stained the strap, or that it dripped from her dainty fingers as she rushed down the hallway, her heart pounding in her chest.

"Harper?" She looked up and saw Stiles coming out of the boys' bathroom. His hazel eyes widened at the red liquid dripping from her arms. "Is that blood?"

She shook her head. "Ink."

She moved into the girls' bathroom, not surprised at this point when Stiles followed her inside. To be fair, she did use to spend too much time in the boys' locker room.

The brunette didn't realise that her hands were shaking while she washed the red away until Stiles' larger hands clasped them, keeping them as still as possible under the water.

He pumped soap into his hands and began to lather it into her skin, watching as she took a deep breath.

"What happened?" He asked, clearly concerned for his girlfriend.

"My dad was right," Harper announced, "These hallucinations are different for me. I know I'm about to have the second one any second now, but every time it starts it stops again. I think I'm in the woods, and I'm really young. Definitely under ten. I think I'm about to find out what happened with the Dread Doctors."

Stiles furrowed his brows, his thumb rubbing away some ink that was at the top of her arm. She shuddered under his touch. Maybe she should be used to him by now, since their two year anniversary was in a couple of weeks, but she still couldn't get over the perfection that was Stiles.

His eyes flickered back up to hers.

"I'm staying with you for the rest of the day," he assured her. "I don't want you to have a hallucination alone, okay?"

Harper bit down on her lip. "Then you have to promise that when it happens, you don't try and help me."

"What?" Stiles breathed incredulously. "Why?"

"I can't have the hallucination stop again. I'm scared you'll snap me out of it, and I need to have this one so the red flashes stop. I could see something that's useful like my dad said I would."

"We're really trusting that guy?"

"He knows more about Empaths than any of us, Stiles."

...

After school, Harper and Stiles headed over to the animal clinic where Theo was still supposed to be watching over Josh's dead body to see if anybody stole it. The brunette followed her boyfriend inside, Theo rushing to meet them by the door.

"What's going on?" He asked calmly.

"Whoever's stealing the bodies probably isn't going to do it while we're standing guard over one of them," Stiles explained as he made his way over to one of the shelves, digging his phone out of his back pocket.

Theo raised his eyebrows. "So you've got a better idea."

Stiles switched the camera on his phone on before propping it up against a jar on the shelf so that it faced the body laying on the slab in the middle of the room.

Harper noticed that Stiles seemed to be getting on okay with Theo at the moment.

Once the phone was in place, the three of them headed to Stiles' jeep, Theo and Stiles in the front and, for whatever reason, Harper in the back. She huffed as she watched Stiles slide his watch over the mirror, the screen on it giving them a perfect view of the inside of the animal clinic.

"What happens now?" Harper asked, leaning back in her seat.

"We wait," Stiles muttered.

"Wanna take shifts watching?" Theo suggested.

"No, no. I wanna spend some quality time with you," Stiles replied sarcastically, immediately making Harper realise that maybe they weren't on such good terms after all.

"Sounds good to me," Theo smiled.

Harper was one to analyse body movement and emotions- it came naturally with being a supernatural creature that felt emotions and physical pain. She'd noticed in the short period of time that she had known Theo Raeken that he was way too calm and smiley.

No teenage boy is as smooth as he is- it's just not normal. Theo should be able to pick up that Stiles hated him by now, yet he sent no confrontation or sly comments Stiles' way. It was as if he was immune or something- or maybe Stiles being suspicious of him was the least of his worries?

Hours later it was pitch black out and nothing had happened. The only light came from the soft glow of a lamppost nearby, not that Harper minded the lack of sight. She had curled up on the back of the seats a while ago, attempting to catch up on the sleep that she had missed from all of her nightmares and countless thoughts about her father.

"Is she asleep?" Theo turned his head over his shoulder to look at her, his voice quiet.

Harper kept her eyes closed, not wanting to reply. If she did then she would lose her concentration on getting to sleep and she'd be there for hours trying again. Sleep was close now anyway- she could feel it.

Stiles looked past his seat at the brunette with her cheek pressed against the seats, her lips slightly parted as deep breaths fell from them. The Stilinski boy took a couple of moments to admire her and how calm she looked while she 'slept'.

He licked his bottom lip and nodded back at Theo, not wanting to talk about Harper with him.

There was a short silence before the werewolf spoke up again. "You still wondering why I haven't said anything to Scott?"

If Harper wasn't pretending to be asleep right now, she probably would have been pulling the most confused expression.

Did Theo know about Donovan? How? And why wouldn't Stiles tell her?

"Maybe," Stiles shrugged, his tone blunt.

"You think I've got some kind of ulterior motive?" Theo continued.

"More than likely."

"Would you believe me if I said all I want- I'll I've ever wanted is for you guys to trust me?" The blue-eyed boy turned to face him.

"Nope."

"So you're here because you're never going to trust me?"

"Yep, glad we had this talk," Stiles responded sarcastically, clearly wanting the conversation to end there and then.

Harper thought they were going to stop talking, her mind starting to zone out again as the sleepiness came back. That was until Theo began to speak once more, making her more alert.

"You know who you remind me of?"

Stiles groaned, "Theo. I don't care."

"My sister," he said making Stiles' eyes go wide as he awkwardly turned his head to the side. "She was smarter than everyone too. And a pain in the ass like you. She always looked out for me. The same way you look out for Scott," his eyes cast to Harper 'sleeping'. "And Harper."

Stiles didn't say anything, he just glanced at Theo, his lips parting. He really hated it when Theo tried to discus Harper or Scott with him. Stiles wanted those names out of his mouth.

"You know, I was the one that found her body," he continued. "She'd fallen into the creek, broken her leg. They told us she would have been okay if it wasn't one of the coldest nights of the year. If it wasn't for the hypothermia. And when I found her, all I could think was that I should have known. That I should have been looking out for her."

"Why are you telling me this?" Stiles asked.

Theo sighed. "I'm telling you because even if you don't trust me and even if you don't like me, I'm still gonna be looking out for you."

More silence.

"You know, I saw his teeth," Theo mentioned, making Stiles look at him in confusion. "Donavon," he clarified. "He was a, uh... Wendigo, wasn't he? That's the cannibal one, right?"

Harper realised that Theo did know about Stiles killing Donavon, her heart skipping a beat. She hoped that Theo didn't notice it, but if he had then he had chosen to ignore it. The Empath couldn't figure out why Stiles wouldn't tell her that Theo knew.

"Native American," her boyfriend answered. "The myth says that if you ate human flesh, your punishment was to turn into a creature that constantly craved it."

Theo blinked. "That's a pretty judgemental myth."

"Well, I didn't make it up."

"What if it was the only way to survive? I mean, you ever hear of the Donner party? I'm pretty sure they didn't turn into Wendigos."

"Well, they didn't live in Beacon Hills," the Stilinski boy retorted.

"Good point," Theo huffed. "So what's the punishment for killing a Chimera?"

Harper's breathing slowed a little when she began to piece together all of her thoughts. From the conversation that the two teenage boys had been having, she was able to come up with the theory that maybe Theo had also killed a Chimera. She wouldn't be surprised, but then why would Stiles cover for him?

Because Theo knows about Donavon, she realised. 

"You spend five hours in a car with Theo Raeken," Stiles responded, making Theo chuckle. "I think I know what my punishment is. I was lucky with Harper, but I'm gonna lose my best friend. I'm gonna lose Scott."

"If Scott really gave up on you for some piece of crap like Donavon, then he wouldn't be a True Alpha, would he?" Theo attempted to reassure him, and Harper couldn't help but silently agree.

"Or maybe that's the definition of one," Stiles argued. "Someone that doesn't put up with murder."

"It sounds like you guys need to look up justifiable homicide."

Stiles blinked. "Did you seriously just say that to the son of a cop?" He questioned incredulously.

"A werewolf's eyes are supposed to change colour when you take the life of an innocent," Theo said, flashing his golden eyes. "Do these look blue to you? It was self-defence. For me and for you."

That confirmed Harper's suspicions.

"Or maybe you just don't feel guilty," Harper finally spoke up, making both teenage boys whirl around from where she had sat up slightly.

Stiles' eyes were bugging out of his head, but Theo looked like he had known the whole time, a small smirk on his face.

"That's what it's down to?" Theo raised his brows. "Interpretation?"

"Maybe," The Empath shrugged. "Cause you sure don't seem to feel sad or guilty about anything, Theo. You may put on the tears, but are they real?"

Stiles's eyes widened a small fraction, realising that maybe Theo hadn't been as upset about his sister's death as he had said he was. Theo just shook his head at Harper, seemingly amused.

"People deal with things differently, Harper," Theo responded vaguely, the cocky look on his face leaving as he sniffed the air. "I smell smoke. Like something's burning."

Theo went to look out the window, only for a bright orange light to illuminate his face. Harper had no chance to see what it was before a fist that was on fire came through the open window, slamming Theo in the face and dragging his body out of the car.

Harper shrieked as his blood splattered all over Stiles' face, making him flinch away and cover himself.

"Stiles!" She screamed as the back of the jeep began to get lifted into the air.

Her body fell forwards into the front seats, thankfully not going through the windshield. Stiles grabbed hold of the roof with one hand, yelling out Harper's name in a panic as he held onto her with the other. Both scrunched their eyes shut, crying out over the sound of the jeep being pushed and pushed- until eventually, it toppled over.

Stiles' body was half out of the window, his head lying limply on the ground. Harper felt her forehead pulsing and realised she must have hit it. Her vision went blurry with dots, smoke filling her lungs as she coughed. A sudden heat exploded from behind her, making her turn.

Fire.

"Stiles," she groaned, pulling herself forward from where she was wedged in between the two front seats.

At least he had some clean oxygen from where he was sprawled out unconscious. Harper looked back when she felt a tug on her leg, realising that it was stuck in between the driver's seat and the gear shift. She tried to turn it, grunting as an awful pain shot through her.

Red flashes began again.

"No," she hissed, pulling harder and screaming out for some adrenaline. "No, not now!" She began to shake the lower half of Stiles' body. "Stiles! Stiles, wake up!"

The red flashes kept on coming until they weren't flashes anymore and Harper was out cold- into another hallucination.

Her body fell limp.

A fire extinguisher went off, blowing carbon dioxide into the car and on Stiles. Theo grabbed him under the arms, dragging him so that he was lying on the ground. Stiles coughed and spluttered, coming alive immediately. His eyes widened in horror, looking back at the car.

"Harper!" He practically roared, heading back into the mess.

He began to pull on her, grunting when he saw the position her ankle was lodged in. Theo was blowing the fire extinguisher on the car while Stiles quickly reached in, grabbing a hold of her foot and pulling it as hard as he could. Once she was freed, he grabbed her body and hauled her out onto the ground, panting heavily.

Her eyeballs were moving frantically under her eyelids. He realised that she was having her hallucination, making his heart skip a beat. He grabbed her hand, looking up at Theo, horrified.

"It's her second one," he swallowed.

Theo nodded before saying, "the body's gone."

Stiles nodded numbly, although he couldn't bring himself to care at that moment in time. He rested Harper's head on his lap, stroking through her hair as a tear or two fell from his eyes and onto his bloodied face. He watched her eyelids move.

He wondered what Harper was remembering.


	35. Chapter 35

Harper gulped, climbing from where she had been sprawled out across the floor. She looked around, her eyes widening when she realised she was in a playground. It wasn't like the one that had been at Beacon Hills Elementry, her primary school had been kind of run down and there was nothing to play with or on.

Just a cement floor with some benches and chalk to draw. Kids ran all around her, screaming and laughing. A small blonde girl with piggy tails almost bumped into her, making her flinch back, but she just carried on running past like she couldn't see Harper.

The sky matched the floor- a dreary grey colour with cracks that let some white sky come through. She guessed it was cold judging by the heavy winter coats over everybody's school uniform, but Harper couldn't feel it.

Swallowing, the brunette looked around for the reason that she was here. She remembered this place vividly- it was where she spent the majority of her childhood. Harper dodged kids as she walked over to where she used to play with her small group of friends- a closed off area where there stood a lone tree growing out of some dirt.

The roots were so thick and long that they grew underneath the playground floor, lifting it up and causing large dents. It didn't take her long to find herself. She had to be about six at the most, perched on top of one of the roots with some chalk in her hand.

"Guess what this is!" Young-Harper laughed loudly, leaning down to draw a poor flower. Harper smiled at her younger self, folding her arms across her chest. Her voice was much higher and her accent was a lot thicker, having never even met an American person at that point in her life.

The girls around her all crowded around, waiting for her to finish. Young-Harper scribbled to colour in the middle of the flower before looking up at her friends with an expectant grin. One of her front teeth was missing.

"It's a flower!" A little girl with the curliest, darkest hair shrieked, clapping her hands. "It's a flower!"

"Marcy's right," Young-Harper clapped, handing her the white chalk.

"This game is boring!" Exclaimed another girl.

Harper remembered this one's name. It was Megan, the same girl that had put gum in her school cardigan's pockets and laughed when she tripped in the lunch hall.

"Well, what do you suggest we do, Megan?" Little-Harper glared, making Real-Harper snort. The younger version of her had folded her arms across her chest.

"Let's go to the woods," Megan giggled mischievously, leaning in and lowering her voice so that nobody around them could hear. "There's a gap in the fence behind the tree, I saw it the other day when I was exploring."

"No way," Young-Harper declared. "That's stupid and we'll get into trouble. Let's just keep on playing 'guess what I'm drawing'."

A blonde girl nodded, looking a little frightened at what Megan was suggesting. Megan's glare hardened.

"Harper, you're such a little baby," Megan laughed. "You're no fun at all."

"Yes, I am!" Little-Harper threw the chalk down in a fit of anger. "I'm fun."

"Then do it!" Megan shoved her in the direction of the hole in the fence. "Prove me wrong. I double dare you."

Harper scoffed, shaking her head at the childish behaviour.

"There's no way I would-" Her eyes widened as her younger self sent one last death squint before rushing past the tree and through the hole. "Dumbass!" She yelled. "Hey, mini-me, come back!"

She knew it was a long shot, and of course, nobody heard her. Groaning, Harper took off after the little girl, going behind the tree and pushing past the little girls all watching her go through the gap, giggling madly. The brunette thanked god she was barely five foot one, putting her leg through first before squeezing through the gap in the fence.

A small figure was already bounding off into the woods, their red coat sticking out from a mile away. Harper huffed. Why was she running away from school? Did little-her really think this was cool?

"Hey, come back!" Harper yelled, running after her. Thankfully she caught up quick since she was a good foot or so taller than the younger version of herself.

Little-Harper tripped over some roots sticking up from the leafy ground, her forehead smacking against another one just a few inches ahead. Harper winced as the small child began to wail, holding her bleeding head.

A whirring noise came from behind the brunette, making her whirl around with wide eyes. She heard the crunching- no, crushing- of leaves and sticks beneath heavy boots as two Dread Doctors came into sight. Little-Harper had seen them too, her cries growing louder as she tried to scramble up off of the floor.

"Stay," one commanded. It was the first time she had actually heard one of them talk and they sounded like robots struggling for breath but in a much more intense Darth Vader kind of way.

Little-Harper whimpered, listening as she stayed put against one of the trees. Harper saw blood trickling from the young girl's head, but that was the least of her worries. She was too busy trying not to panic at the two massive figures in front of her.

"Empath," the other one announced.

"Ready?"

"Twelve years too early."

Harper watched, eyes wide and horrified. If anything, she appeared more terrified than Little-Harper, because she had somewhat an idea of what was going on. The Dread Doctors knew she wouldn't become an Empath for another twelve years, or at least until she turned eighteen. Of course, they didn't know that she would be bitten at the younger age of only sixteen.

The Dread Doctors then seemed to communicate through whirs and clicks until one came towards her younger-self with a needle. Harper watched as they injected it into the little girl's neck, pulling out her blood. Little-Harper was sobbing her heart out, sucking in breaths of air.

Harper swallowed nervously as the Dread Doctors put away the needle, turning to the other.

"Valack's offspring."

"Take pre-Empath tears."

One of the Dread Doctor's produced another needle, filled to the brim with a black substance. The other held the little girl in place as they injected it into her arm, the veins around the area immediately pulsing black. Mini-Harper began to scream in pain, the tears falling faster as she fell from their tight grips and to the forest floor where she withered, the perfect example of agony.

They reached forward, placing a test tube beneath her eyes, capturing salty tears as they streamed. The last thing the young girl saw was a Dread Doctor hovering over her, saying-

"Harry Valack next."

-before everything faded. 

Harper woke up gasping for air. Hands immediately went to her shoulders, pulling her back down from where she was trying to get out of the person's grip. She realised she was still outside the animal clinic, but the jeep was no longer on fire. In fact, Theo was pushing it back so that it was on the right side.

"Harper, Harper!" Stiles cried out. "It's me, it's me."

The brunette turned and grabbed his hands, looking into his eyes. "I saw them! The Dread Doctors, I saw them. They thought I had just run away and hit my head and dreamt the whole thing, only my dad believed me. They took my blood, they took Harry's too, I think. My dad says they can't replicate Empaths, maybe they were trying, maybe-"

"Harper, calm down," Stiles hushed her, his brows furrowed as he ran his hand down the side of her face. "You're going to make yourself panic."

"Sorry," she swallowed, slumping back down on the ground and closing her eyes briefly. "I don't know how I forgot I... They don't know about Empaths. I think we confuse them."

"What does all of this mean?" Stiles licked his bottom lip, trying to process everything that she was saying.

"My dad would know, we could-"

"No," Stiles cut her off, shaking his head. "We're not going to your dad, Harper. You only want to go because you think he can help you, but how do we know that it's not another trick? To lure you in so he can start experimenting on you like he did with Harry?"

Harper released a shaky breath. "So what do we do?" She asked, turning to look at Theo who was also watching them, his hands shoved in the pocket of his hoodie. "Hope Empaths have nothing to do with Dread Doctors and that we'll find another way to get rid of them? Hope they don't come after me to finish what they started?"

Stiles chewed down on his lip, not knowing what to say. He sure as hell wasn't going to let Harper go back to Eichen to visit Valack. He was dangerous and psychotic.

"We can find someone else to help," he insisted, "I'll do my research, anything. Just promise you won't go looking for your dad."

The teenage girl nodded hesitantly.

"Right now we could focus on the body that's missing," Theo suggested, making Harper's eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.

"They took the body?"

Theo nodded. "They flipped the car, took the body and left."

Suddenly, Stiles' police radio began to crackle from inside the jeep. Harper was honestly surprised that it was still working after what it had just been through. Maybe she had imagined there was so much fire because she'd hit her head. However, judging by the smoky stench hanging in the air, it couldn't have been a tiny one.

"Suspect in 1-8-7 is in custody an en route to sheriff's station," a policeman announced over the radio. "Suspect's name is Yukimura, Kira."

Harper frowned. "What's a 1-8-7, Stiles?"

Stiles hesitated before he blinked. "Homicide."

...

Sleep wasn't an option for the McCall pack. The attempt to keep Hayden safe last night had ended with her being taken by the Dread Doctors, including Liam. Not only that, but a dead body had shown up on the McCall's table, Kira's sword straight through the stomach. She had been taken in, accused of murder, but released when her dad covered for her. She said that she hadn't done it, but Harper knew Scott didn't know what to believe.

All cleaned up but still tired as hell, Harper, Stiles and Theo stood in her living room, this time standing around with Malia and Isaac who still weren't on speaking terms. In fact, Isaac was sending daggers into the back of Theo's head right until the very second Scott entered the house, marching his way over to the other teenagers.

"Hey, is Kira okay?" Stiles asked.

The werewolf ignored him, going straight past and up the stairs with a determined look on his face. Harper and Malia shared confused glances.

"Scott?" Isaac and Theo called simultaneously, making Isaac roll his eyes.

The group rushed up the stairs after him, Harper first in Scott's bedroom to find him frozen, his claws sticking in a boy named Corey's neck. Oh, yes, just another thing that had happened last night. Mason had found out Corey was a Chimera- and a very confused one at that.

"Don't get too close," Lydia warned from where she was stood next to Mason.

"What is he doing?" Theo asked from the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"He's tapping into Corey's memories," Harper told him briefly, watching as Scott and Corey's faces scrunched up, breathy mumbles escaping their lips.

Lydia added, "it's usually something only Alpha's do."

Theo seemed fascinated, stepping into the room further and going close behind Scott to get a better look. Harper didn't like how amused he was by the situation, she could practically feel him taking notes in his head.

"Is it as dangerous as it looks?" The blue-eyed boy questioned.

"Probably more," Stiles muttered.

Mason sighed, "does anyone know if it's working?"

"Judging by the looks on their faces," Isaac hummed. "I'd say it is."

Suddenly, they both ripped apart, Scott taking in deep breaths while Corey shrieked, holding the back of his neck in a mixture of pain and horror. His eyes were scrunched shut as Scott stumbled back, falling. Stiles and Harper both grabbed him, assisting him over to his chest of drawers so that he could prop himself up correctly.

"Is he okay?" Scott mumbled.

"The hell did you do to me?" Corey cried.

"You'll be alright," the alpha panted.

"There's blood."

"You'll heal."

"Scott-" Isaac tried.

"He'll be fine!" Scott suddenly yelled, waving Stiles and Isaac off of him. "Listen... I think it worked. I saw something," he picked up a sketchpad and began to draw quickly. "There were tunnels, pipes along the walls. There were these two huge blue pipes at the entrance. Two on both sides."

Stiles went around to examine the drawing, Harper and Lydia on the other side of Scott to also take a closer look.

"Wait a second," the Stilinski boy muttered. "I've seen that before. That's one of the tunnels I used to skateboard in. Remember my dad caught me one time and told me never to go back?"

"It's a water treatment plant," Lydia nodded.

"That's where they are," Scott pressed his finger against it. "That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

Before waiting for anyone else, the alpha began to leg it down the stairs, walking as quickly as he could through the kitchen to get to the back door. Everybody followed him, Stiles calling after his best friend worriedly.

"Scott. Scott," the Stilinski boy called. "Slow down. Please, just think for a second, okay? Mason shouldn't be going."

"Liam's my best friend," Mason nodded, walking straight past Stiles. "I'm doing."

"Oh, did you suddenly get super wolf powers?" Stiles retorted sarcastically. "I wasn't aware of that development."

"Well, if you're not going I could use the help," Scott shrugged.

"No, I'm coming just as soon as I talk to my dad," Stiles huffed back. "They're moving the body and he wants to make sure that this time no one steals it."

Malia frowned. "How's he gonna do that?"

"I don't know."

"Well, whoever took the last one was strong enough to flip the entire jeep over," Harper mentioned. "So hopefully your dad's plan is pretty good."

Malia pointed, "we can bring Theo."

Isaac pursed his lips. "We don't need Theo, I'm going," he stated, making Malia send him a look.

Theo glanced at Isaac before sighing. "Maybe I better stay here. You know, in case the Doctors decide to make a house call for Corey."

"Scott, Stiles is right," Lydia spoke up. "We need to slow down and think."

"I am thinking!" The McCall boy exclaimed. "About how Liam and Hayden could already be dead."

Harper winced, hating the thought of two innocent kids being murdered, especially Liam. She had grown quite fond of the younger boy in the time that she had known him.

"You could have hurt Corey," the brunette agreed with Lydia and Stiles. "You weren't thinking when you went looking through his memories, but you could have seriously hurt him."

There was a heavy silence that hung in the air. Scott seemed to send Corey what looked like an apologetic look, but everybody knew that he would do it again if he had to.

He hesitated. "I have to find Liam."

And with that, Scott took off out the door, Mason, Malia and Isaac right behind him. Harper bit down on her lip, praying that nothing was about to go wrong.

Once they had left and Stiles went to meet his dad at the hospital, Harper was left with just Lydia, Corey and Theo in the living room. While Corey sat on the couch, the brunette had moved behind him with a wet flannel and dabbed at the blood that Scott had left behind, revealing clean skin. Not a single dent had was left.

"It healed, didn't it?" Corey asked regretfully.

Lydia sighed, "yeah, it did."

Corey stood. "Okay, then," he muttered, turning to face them. "It's been fun. Especially the part where a werewolf forced his way into my brain with his claws."

His voice seemed far too soft for his sarcastic attitude, or for him to even be violent in any way. The sophomore boy began to walk away, heading towards the front door. Theo followed.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Corey," the Raeken boy insisted. "You know, Lydia's a banshee. It means she can tell when someone's close to death. Lydia, what happens if he walks out that door?"

Lydia pursed her lips, realising what Theo was doing. Of course she didn't know what was actually going to happen if he left, and of course, Corey didn't know that Lydia couldn't tell. But what Theo had done was actually quite smart.

"It's bad," she insisted, nodding her head. "Very bad."

Corey scoffed, "I'll take my chances."

"You don't stand one if you leave," Harper tried, making him pause in the doorway and clench his jaw. "Please, Corey. Neither will Liam or Hayden if you don't help us out here. What else did you see?"

"There had to be something else," Theo added firmly.

Corey looked down at the floor, thinking things over with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. It was obvious that he hadn't wanted to be mixed up in all of the supernatural drama, and unlike Mason, he didn't find it very appealing or exciting in the slightest way.

"There was the hospital and... They took me out of my room and then to the tunnels," he referenced to the Dread Doctors. "Like I already told you, that's it."

"Yeah, nothing after that?" Theo took a step forward as if threatening the younger boy. Harper moved her hand out swiftly, sending him a firm look that told him not to get any closer.

"No."

"There has to be more. Think!" The blue-eyed boy ordered. "Corey, for one minute. Just think!"

Harper dropped her arm as Corey sighed, his eyes closing for a while. Too long. The three teenagers realised that he must be remembering something, putting a newfound hope through Harper. Her lips parted as she watched Corey blink, eyes a little wide.

"There was a basement," he realised, his voice barely above a murmur. "In a house. It was old, covered in dust. There was a broken stone wall with a large hole in it like a bomb went off."

"Guys, the werewolf with the talons, the one that attacked Scott, didn't Parrish say that he smashed through the wall of a basement?" Theo remembered, turning to the two girls with a soft frown on his face. "Wasn't it something like that?"

"No," Lydia swallowed. "It was exactly that."

Theo ended up being the one to find Hayden and Liam, bringing them back to the McCall household where they slept bundled up on the couch in blankets that Harper and Lydia had placed over them. Hayden was hurt, a gash down her side, and she wasn't healing. Luckily Liam had been able to take away the pain. 

When Scott returned, Theo hugged him. Harper exchanged a glance with Isaac who appeared standoffish, folding his arms across his chest as Mason moved in for the next hug. It was when Malia hugged Theo that Isaac's face really fell. He looked away from the pair, pursing his lips together into a frown.

Harper had texted Stiles to tell him the news, but it turned out Stiles couldn't one-up her with a positive story of his own. Deputy Clark had managed to trace back a 'prank call' from the school library back to Stiles, who had used his after-hours card to get in and hide from Donavon. His dad seemed slightly suspicious when Stiles lied about losing the card and not knowing what had happened, making him paranoid.

However, to put the cherry on the cake, the hospital had been attacked and the body had been stolen from the morgue, the only thing left behind being Parrish's police badge. It had been Parrish taking the bodies the whole time.

Nothing was going right for the pack. Kira was out of control, Harper's dad was back in the picture, Stiles had accidentally killed someone, Scott's asthma was back, Malia and Isaac's relationship was falling apart and Lydia now had a body-stealing-Parrish to worry about.


	36. Chapter 36

Harper gulped, climbing from where she had been sprawled out across the floor. She looked around, her eyes widening when she realised she was in a playground. It wasn't like the one that had been at Beacon Hills Elementry, her primary school had been kind of run down and there was nothing to play with or on.

Just a cement floor with some benches and chalk to draw. Kids ran all around her, screaming and laughing. A small blonde girl with piggy tails almost bumped into her, making her flinch back, but she just carried on running past like she couldn't see Harper.

The sky matched the floor- a dreary grey colour with cracks that let some white sky come through. She guessed it was cold judging by the heavy winter coats over everybody's school uniform, but Harper couldn't feel it.

Swallowing, the brunette looked around for the reason that she was here. She remembered this place vividly- it was where she spent the majority of her childhood. Harper dodged kids as she walked over to where she used to play with her small group of friends- a closed off area where there stood a lone tree growing out of some dirt.

The roots were so thick and long that they grew underneath the playground floor, lifting it up and causing large dents. It didn't take her long to find herself. She had to be about six at the most, perched on top of one of the roots with some chalk in her hand.

"Guess what this is!" Young-Harper laughed loudly, leaning down to draw a poor flower. Harper smiled at her younger self, folding her arms across her chest. Her voice was much higher and her accent was a lot thicker, having never even met an American person at that point in her life.

The girls around her all crowded around, waiting for her to finish. Young-Harper scribbled to colour in the middle of the flower before looking up at her friends with an expectant grin. One of her front teeth was missing.

"It's a flower!" A little girl with the curliest, darkest hair shrieked, clapping her hands. "It's a flower!"

"Marcy's right," Young-Harper clapped, handing her the white chalk.

"This game is boring!" Exclaimed another girl.

Harper remembered this one's name. It was Megan, the same girl that had put gum in her school cardigan's pockets and laughed when she tripped in the lunch hall.

"Well, what do you suggest we do, Megan?" Little-Harper glared, making Real-Harper snort. The younger version of her had folded her arms across her chest.

"Let's go to the woods," Megan giggled mischievously, leaning in and lowering her voice so that nobody around them could hear. "There's a gap in the fence behind the tree, I saw it the other day when I was exploring."

"No way," Young-Harper declared. "That's stupid and we'll get into trouble. Let's just keep on playing 'guess what I'm drawing'."

A blonde girl nodded, looking a little frightened at what Megan was suggesting. Megan's glare hardened.

"Harper, you're such a little baby," Megan laughed. "You're no fun at all."

"Yes, I am!" Little-Harper threw the chalk down in a fit of anger. "I'm fun."

"Then do it!" Megan shoved her in the direction of the hole in the fence. "Prove me wrong. I double dare you."

Harper scoffed, shaking her head at the childish behaviour.

"There's no way I would-" Her eyes widened as her younger self sent one last death squint before rushing past the tree and through the hole. "Dumbass!" She yelled. "Hey, mini-me, come back!"

She knew it was a long shot, and of course, nobody heard her. Groaning, Harper took off after the little girl, going behind the tree and pushing past the little girls all watching her go through the gap, giggling madly. The brunette thanked god she was barely five foot one, putting her leg through first before squeezing through the gap in the fence.

A small figure was already bounding off into the woods, their red coat sticking out from a mile away. Harper huffed. Why was she running away from school? Did little-her really think this was cool?

"Hey, come back!" Harper yelled, running after her. Thankfully she caught up quick since she was a good foot or so taller than the younger version of herself.

Little-Harper tripped over some roots sticking up from the leafy ground, her forehead smacking against another one just a few inches ahead. Harper winced as the small child began to wail, holding her bleeding head.

A whirring noise came from behind the brunette, making her whirl around with wide eyes. She heard the crunching- no, crushing- of leaves and sticks beneath heavy boots as two Dread Doctors came into sight. Little-Harper had seen them too, her cries growing louder as she tried to scramble up off of the floor.

"Stay," one commanded. It was the first time she had actually heard one of them talk and they sounded like robots struggling for breath but in a much more intense Darth Vader kind of way.

Little-Harper whimpered, listening as she stayed put against one of the trees. Harper saw blood trickling from the young girl's head, but that was the least of her worries. She was too busy trying not to panic at the two massive figures in front of her.

"Empath," the other one announced.

"Ready?"

"Twelve years too early."

Harper watched, eyes wide and horrified. If anything, she appeared more terrified than Little-Harper, because she had somewhat an idea of what was going on. The Dread Doctors knew she wouldn't become an Empath for another twelve years, or at least until she turned eighteen. Of course, they didn't know that she would be bitten at the younger age of only sixteen.

The Dread Doctors then seemed to communicate through whirs and clicks until one came towards her younger-self with a needle. Harper watched as they injected it into the little girl's neck, pulling out her blood. Little-Harper was sobbing her heart out, sucking in breaths of air.

Harper swallowed nervously as the Dread Doctors put away the needle, turning to the other.

"Valack's offspring."

"Take pre-Empath tears."

One of the Dread Doctor's produced another needle, filled to the brim with a black substance. The other held the little girl in place as they injected it into her arm, the veins around the area immediately pulsing black. Mini-Harper began to scream in pain, the tears falling faster as she fell from their tight grips and to the forest floor where she withered, the perfect example of agony.

They reached forward, placing a test tube beneath her eyes, capturing salty tears as they streamed. The last thing the young girl saw was a Dread Doctor hovering over her, saying-

"Harry Valack next."

-before everything faded. 

Harper woke up gasping for air. Hands immediately went to her shoulders, pulling her back down from where she was trying to get out of the person's grip. She realised she was still outside the animal clinic, but the jeep was no longer on fire. In fact, Theo was pushing it back so that it was on the right side.

"Harper, Harper!" Stiles cried out. "It's me, it's me."

The brunette turned and grabbed his hands, looking into his eyes. "I saw them! The Dread Doctors, I saw them. They thought I had just run away and hit my head and dreamt the whole thing, only my dad believed me. They took my blood, they took Harry's too, I think. My dad says they can't replicate Empaths, maybe they were trying, maybe-"

"Harper, calm down," Stiles hushed her, his brows furrowed as he ran his hand down the side of her face. "You're going to make yourself panic."

"Sorry," she swallowed, slumping back down on the ground and closing her eyes briefly. "I don't know how I forgot I... They don't know about Empaths. I think we confuse them."

"What does all of this mean?" Stiles licked his bottom lip, trying to process everything that she was saying.

"My dad would know, we could-"

"No," Stiles cut her off, shaking his head. "We're not going to your dad, Harper. You only want to go because you think he can help you, but how do we know that it's not another trick? To lure you in so he can start experimenting on you like he did with Harry?"

Harper released a shaky breath. "So what do we do?" She asked, turning to look at Theo who was also watching them, his hands shoved in the pocket of his hoodie. "Hope Empaths have nothing to do with Dread Doctors and that we'll find another way to get rid of them? Hope they don't come after me to finish what they started?"

Stiles chewed down on his lip, not knowing what to say. He sure as hell wasn't going to let Harper go back to Eichen to visit Valack. He was dangerous and psychotic.

"We can find someone else to help," he insisted, "I'll do my research, anything. Just promise you won't go looking for your dad."

The teenage girl nodded hesitantly.

"Right now we could focus on the body that's missing," Theo suggested, making Harper's eyes practically bulge out of their sockets.

"They took the body?"

Theo nodded. "They flipped the car, took the body and left."

Suddenly, Stiles' police radio began to crackle from inside the jeep. Harper was honestly surprised that it was still working after what it had just been through. Maybe she had imagined there was so much fire because she'd hit her head. However, judging by the smoky stench hanging in the air, it couldn't have been a tiny one.

"Suspect in 1-8-7 is in custody an en route to sheriff's station," a policeman announced over the radio. "Suspect's name is Yukimura, Kira."

Harper frowned. "What's a 1-8-7, Stiles?"

Stiles hesitated before he blinked. "Homicide."

...

Sleep wasn't an option for the McCall pack. The attempt to keep Hayden safe last night had ended with her being taken by the Dread Doctors, including Liam. Not only that, but a dead body had shown up on the McCall's table, Kira's sword straight through the stomach. She had been taken in, accused of murder, but released when her dad covered for her. She said that she hadn't done it, but Harper knew Scott didn't know what to believe.

All cleaned up but still tired as hell, Harper, Stiles and Theo stood in her living room, this time standing around with Malia and Isaac who still weren't on speaking terms. In fact, Isaac was sending daggers into the back of Theo's head right until the very second Scott entered the house, marching his way over to the other teenagers.

"Hey, is Kira okay?" Stiles asked.

The werewolf ignored him, going straight past and up the stairs with a determined look on his face. Harper and Malia shared confused glances.

"Scott?" Isaac and Theo called simultaneously, making Isaac roll his eyes.

The group rushed up the stairs after him, Harper first in Scott's bedroom to find him frozen, his claws sticking in a boy named Corey's neck. Oh, yes, just another thing that had happened last night. Mason had found out Corey was a Chimera- and a very confused one at that.

"Don't get too close," Lydia warned from where she was stood next to Mason.

"What is he doing?" Theo asked from the doorway, his eyebrows furrowed together.

"He's tapping into Corey's memories," Harper told him briefly, watching as Scott and Corey's faces scrunched up, breathy mumbles escaping their lips.

Lydia added, "it's usually something only Alpha's do."

Theo seemed fascinated, stepping into the room further and going close behind Scott to get a better look. Harper didn't like how amused he was by the situation, she could practically feel him taking notes in his head.

"Is it as dangerous as it looks?" The blue-eyed boy questioned.

"Probably more," Stiles muttered.

Mason sighed, "does anyone know if it's working?"

"Judging by the looks on their faces," Isaac hummed. "I'd say it is."

Suddenly, they both ripped apart, Scott taking in deep breaths while Corey shrieked, holding the back of his neck in a mixture of pain and horror. His eyes were scrunched shut as Scott stumbled back, falling. Stiles and Harper both grabbed him, assisting him over to his chest of drawers so that he could prop himself up correctly.

"Is he okay?" Scott mumbled.

"The hell did you do to me?" Corey cried.

"You'll be alright," the alpha panted.

"There's blood."

"You'll heal."

"Scott-" Isaac tried.

"He'll be fine!" Scott suddenly yelled, waving Stiles and Isaac off of him. "Listen... I think it worked. I saw something," he picked up a sketchpad and began to draw quickly. "There were tunnels, pipes along the walls. There were these two huge blue pipes at the entrance. Two on both sides."

Stiles went around to examine the drawing, Harper and Lydia on the other side of Scott to also take a closer look.

"Wait a second," the Stilinski boy muttered. "I've seen that before. That's one of the tunnels I used to skateboard in. Remember my dad caught me one time and told me never to go back?"

"It's a water treatment plant," Lydia nodded.

"That's where they are," Scott pressed his finger against it. "That's where we'll find Liam and Hayden."

Before waiting for anyone else, the alpha began to leg it down the stairs, walking as quickly as he could through the kitchen to get to the back door. Everybody followed him, Stiles calling after his best friend worriedly.

"Scott. Scott," the Stilinski boy called. "Slow down. Please, just think for a second, okay? Mason shouldn't be going."

"Liam's my best friend," Mason nodded, walking straight past Stiles. "I'm doing."

"Oh, did you suddenly get super wolf powers?" Stiles retorted sarcastically. "I wasn't aware of that development."

"Well, if you're not going I could use the help," Scott shrugged.

"No, I'm coming just as soon as I talk to my dad," Stiles huffed back. "They're moving the body and he wants to make sure that this time no one steals it."

Malia frowned. "How's he gonna do that?"

"I don't know."

"Well, whoever took the last one was strong enough to flip the entire jeep over," Harper mentioned. "So hopefully your dad's plan is pretty good."

Malia pointed, "we can bring Theo."

Isaac pursed his lips. "We don't need Theo, I'm going," he stated, making Malia send him a look.

Theo glanced at Isaac before sighing. "Maybe I better stay here. You know, in case the Doctors decide to make a house call for Corey."

"Scott, Stiles is right," Lydia spoke up. "We need to slow down and think."

"I am thinking!" The McCall boy exclaimed. "About how Liam and Hayden could already be dead."

Harper winced, hating the thought of two innocent kids being murdered, especially Liam. She had grown quite fond of the younger boy in the time that she had known him.

"You could have hurt Corey," the brunette agreed with Lydia and Stiles. "You weren't thinking when you went looking through his memories, but you could have seriously hurt him."

There was a heavy silence that hung in the air. Scott seemed to send Corey what looked like an apologetic look, but everybody knew that he would do it again if he had to.

He hesitated. "I have to find Liam."

And with that, Scott took off out the door, Mason, Malia and Isaac right behind him. Harper bit down on her lip, praying that nothing was about to go wrong.

Once they had left and Stiles went to meet his dad at the hospital, Harper was left with just Lydia, Corey and Theo in the living room. While Corey sat on the couch, the brunette had moved behind him with a wet flannel and dabbed at the blood that Scott had left behind, revealing clean skin. Not a single dent had was left.

"It healed, didn't it?" Corey asked regretfully.

Lydia sighed, "yeah, it did."

Corey stood. "Okay, then," he muttered, turning to face them. "It's been fun. Especially the part where a werewolf forced his way into my brain with his claws."

His voice seemed far too soft for his sarcastic attitude, or for him to even be violent in any way. The sophomore boy began to walk away, heading towards the front door. Theo followed.

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Corey," the Raeken boy insisted. "You know, Lydia's a banshee. It means she can tell when someone's close to death. Lydia, what happens if he walks out that door?"

Lydia pursed her lips, realising what Theo was doing. Of course she didn't know what was actually going to happen if he left, and of course, Corey didn't know that Lydia couldn't tell. But what Theo had done was actually quite smart.

"It's bad," she insisted, nodding her head. "Very bad."

Corey scoffed, "I'll take my chances."

"You don't stand one if you leave," Harper tried, making him pause in the doorway and clench his jaw. "Please, Corey. Neither will Liam or Hayden if you don't help us out here. What else did you see?"

"There had to be something else," Theo added firmly.

Corey looked down at the floor, thinking things over with a slightly annoyed expression on his face. It was obvious that he hadn't wanted to be mixed up in all of the supernatural drama, and unlike Mason, he didn't find it very appealing or exciting in the slightest way.

"There was the hospital and... They took me out of my room and then to the tunnels," he referenced to the Dread Doctors. "Like I already told you, that's it."

"Yeah, nothing after that?" Theo took a step forward as if threatening the younger boy. Harper moved her hand out swiftly, sending him a firm look that told him not to get any closer.

"No."

"There has to be more. Think!" The blue-eyed boy ordered. "Corey, for one minute. Just think!"

Harper dropped her arm as Corey sighed, his eyes closing for a while. Too long. The three teenagers realised that he must be remembering something, putting a newfound hope through Harper. Her lips parted as she watched Corey blink, eyes a little wide.

"There was a basement," he realised, his voice barely above a murmur. "In a house. It was old, covered in dust. There was a broken stone wall with a large hole in it like a bomb went off."

"Guys, the werewolf with the talons, the one that attacked Scott, didn't Parrish say that he smashed through the wall of a basement?" Theo remembered, turning to the two girls with a soft frown on his face. "Wasn't it something like that?"

"No," Lydia swallowed. "It was exactly that."

Theo ended up being the one to find Hayden and Liam, bringing them back to the McCall household where they slept bundled up on the couch in blankets that Harper and Lydia had placed over them. Hayden was hurt, a gash down her side, and she wasn't healing. Luckily Liam had been able to take away the pain. 

When Scott returned, Theo hugged him. Harper exchanged a glance with Isaac who appeared standoffish, folding his arms across his chest as Mason moved in for the next hug. It was when Malia hugged Theo that Isaac's face really fell. He looked away from the pair, pursing his lips together into a frown.

Harper had texted Stiles to tell him the news, but it turned out Stiles couldn't one-up her with a positive story of his own. Deputy Clark had managed to trace back a 'prank call' from the school library back to Stiles, who had used his after-hours card to get in and hide from Donavon. His dad seemed slightly suspicious when Stiles lied about losing the card and not knowing what had happened, making him paranoid.

However, to put the cherry on the cake, the hospital had been attacked and the body had been stolen from the morgue, the only thing left behind being Parrish's police badge. It had been Parrish taking the bodies the whole time.

Nothing was going right for the pack. Kira was out of control, Harper's dad was back in the picture, Stiles had accidentally killed someone, Scott's asthma was back, Malia and Isaac's relationship was falling apart and Lydia now had a body-stealing-Parrish to worry about.


	37. Chapter 37

"Anything?" Harper glanced over at Isaac as he jogged back to her. 

In response, the werewolf shook his head, a frustrated look on his face as he paused in front of her, hands on his knees while he panted. 

Stiles rolled his eyes. "It's like this thing doesn't want to be found."

For Harper, Lydia, Stiles and Isaac, the past five days had been constant searching through the woods- and for a tree stump of all things. Well, not just any tree stump- the Nemeton. That's where they guessed Parrish had been dumping the bodies, not that they had told him this.

They figured that Parrish didn't even remember doing it and they didn't tell Sheriff Stilinski either. Everybody assumed that Parrish was unstoppable until he got to the bodies, and Stiles knew his father better than anyone else- he knew that Noah would try and stop Parrish taking them anyway. 

The pack didn't want to put him in any danger.

That wasn't to say that the pack had been really talking for the past five days, either. Nobody had any idea about what was going on, so nobody said anything at all. At school, the friends all just walked past each other like they didn't exist- minus the odd exception. Harper was still talking to Lydia, Stiles and Isaac.

Malia had distanced herself for whatever reason- probably to do with the fact that hers and Isaac's relationship wasn't improving at all. Isaac just distracted himself by helping the other three teenagers search for the bodies. Scott was paranoid about his asthma, nobody had heard from Kira, and Liam and Hayden were in their own little world of love and happiness- making out in between classes and sleeping over each other's houses after school.

The only good thing to come out of the past five days was the fact that Stiles had managed to find someone that knew a lot about Empaths, or at least said she did. She lived a few states over and owned some quirky astrology store or something. He'd called the old woman up and she'd said she wanted to see Harper, but only Harper. It would be the first Empath she'd ever met, but to be honest, that wasn't a shocker since all the others were dead. However, they didn't know when they were going to go since no time felt like a good time.

"Maybe it knows we're late for class," Lydia retorted, turning around from where she was standing in the opening of the woods.

Isaac looked up, noticing the two white crosses drawn with chalk on one of the bigger trees. Harper had been marking everywhere they went, but it appeared they were going round in circles at this point. 

"We've been here twice," the werewolf muttered sourly.

"Crap," Stiles huffed.

Harper pursed her lips, hesitating before she spoke up. "Maybe we should talk to Parrish now. He might not remember taking the bodies, but maybe he has some sort of sixth sense. Like, if we asked him he could know the way to the Nemeton without realising it kind of thing."

Lydia nodded quickly in agreement. She'd been asking for them to just tell Parrish for ages now. 

"That's a stretch," Isaac raised his brows. "But at this point, I'm willing to do anything to get out of these damn woods. Even go to English."

Stiles held a finger up, silencing the pair. "Hang on. If the Nemeton's covered in bodies, shouldn't you be able to find them?" He looked towards the strawberry blonde.

"Me?" She scoffed.

"Yeah, you," Stiles waved his hands around. "That's what you do. You're the banshee, you find the bodies."

Lydia shot him a sarcastic smile. "Well, the banshee's having an off day, so how about we listen to Harper and go and talk to Parrish?"

"We can't," the Stilinski boy responded immediately, his tone firm yet holding a sense of nervousness. 

Isaac folded his arms across his chest. "And why not?"

"Because... One of the bodies..." Stiles hesitated, looking down. "One of them could be..."

Harper's heart skipped a beat when she realised he was talking about Donavon. Was he about to tell Isaac and Lydia? She gulped. 

Lydia snapped, "one of them could be what?"

Upon seeing the look on her boyfriend's face, she knew his brain had frozen. 

"Because what if his instinct to take the bodies come back out and he totally blanks out and kills us all?" Harper persuaded lamely. "Maybe he wants to protect them, and we're getting in the way!"

Stiles' visibly relaxed a little, mentally thanking Harper a hundred times in his head. She didn't have to glance at him to know how much he appreciated her right now, her Empath senses could feel it. 

However, she could also feel the frustration and confusion rising off of Lydia and Isaac, heading straight to her direction. 

"What?" Isaac exclaimed incredulously, "Harper, you literally suggested going to Parrish first."

Harper shrugged nervously. "Yeah, but then I thought about it," her voice sounded squeaky and totally unconvincing, making Lydia roll her eyes.

"That's enough," the banshee huffed. "I'm going to Parrish and I'm telling him he's the one taking the bodies. It's always better when they know."

Stiles scoffed. "Well, then he should know that he owes me a jeep!"

...

Everybody was being forced to leave school, for whatever reason Harper and Stiles weren't sure. They'd only been in English for thirty minutes before the drill went off, their teacher announcing calmly that everybody needed to evacuate. 

Harper's hand was clasped inside Stiles' much larger one as they moved side by side down the hallway in the same direction as all of the other concerned teenagers. 

While Stiles stretched his neck to look over at everybody, Harper kept her head low, concentrating on emotions. Nobody seemed to know anything- everybody was just confused. That was until she felt an overwhelming hit of sadness, making her glance over by some lockers.

Isaac was stood with his back to them, holding both Malia's hands while she spoke, tears gathering in her dark eyes. Stiles and Harper shared a look, starting to head over as Malia tore away from him and stormed down another hall, sniffling.

"Should I go after her?" Harper asked, watching where she left with a small frown.

Stiles shook his head. "We don't know why the schools being shut down yet. I don't know why she isn't leaving either."

He headed to Isaac, clamping a hand down on his shoulder and making him turn. The taller boy didn't look surprised to see the couple stood there, in fact, he looked a little numb of emotion.

"What happened?" Stiles questioned, feeling genuine concern for the boy he often bickered with. Lately, however, with the whole 'hating-Theo' thing they shared, they'd found themselves bickering a lot less.

"Another Chimera's dead," the werewolf gulped. "Some girl called Beth, I think. Malia watched it happen- she's pretty upset with herself over it."

Stiles groaned, "that means there's another body for Parrish to pick up."

"And Lydia's with him right now," Harper realised, her eyes widening as she pulled out her phone and quickly called the strawberry blonde. When she didn't reply, Harper left a frantic voicemail. 

"Lyds, listen to me. Another Chimera is dead and that means Parrish is probably gonna come and get the body. If he tries, you can't get in his way, okay? Lydia, do not get in his way."

...

Lydia never replied to Harper or Stiles and Malia wasn't answering her phone either. Isaac had gone off to look for his girlfriend, knowing how distressed she was after not being able to save Beth. The couple had no idea where Scott was right now, but assumed he was with Theo. Harper had seen them around with each other a lot more lately, much to her boyfriend's dismay. 

Stiles was sitting on her bed, his legs crossed in a childish fashion. He held his phone with both hands, back hunched over as he read off of the screen. None of the pack were answering the couple right now, but that was nothing new. 

"I don't like how we've all drifted apart," Stiles admitted, turning off the device and placing it on the bedside table. 

No response came from the Empath. 

He glanced across the room towards Harper's desk, finding the girl it belonged to sat there. She was slumped over it, her cheek resting on her arm as the soft glow of her lamp filled the area. Stiles studied her figure for a moment, realising that her breathing was slow. 

He chuckled, standing up and walking over to Harper to see what she had been doing. Maths homework was sprawled out in front of her, however, it looked like she had fallen asleep drawing stars all across the margins. He had yet to understand her minor obsession with them. 

Stiles gently shook her elbow, causing Harper to stir, her lips parting as she mumbled incoherent words under her breath. 

"Babe," he whispered, watching as she blinked tiredly. "You're going to get neck pain if you sleep at your desk."

"Moving not," she mumbled back, closing her eyes again. "Surprisingly comfy."

Stiles released a scoff of amusement, brown eyes practically melting as he stared down at her in adoration, wondering if she could become any more perfect for him. Just the little things she did reminded him of how cute she was and how he could never get bored of her. 

"Okay, Yoda," Stiles teased, his arms moving to wrap around her petite frame. "As comfy as your wooden desk looks, I remember you telling me that my arms were the comfiest."

Harper blushed, eyes still closed as she felt him lift her with ease. She felt like she was on cloud nine as he gently carried her the short distance from her desk to her bed. The brunette found herself wishing he would always be wrapped around her. 

"Does that mean you're staying the night?" She whispered hopefully, feeling as Stiles lowered them onto Harper's bed, her body still laying on top of his as he held her tighter. 

"Mhm," he responded, nuzzling his nose into her neck and causing her to giggle a little, her tiredness slowly seeping away. 

Her hands rested on his shoulders as she pushed herself away from him a little, teasing him. Stiles puckered his lips in an exaggerating manner, somewhat resembling a fish. He began to push his face towards hers, but she backed away more, the two of them both laughing.

"Kissy, kissy," he teased, making noises with his lips. 

Harper sucked her lips into her mouth, preventing them from kissing. Stiles smirked at her and gently grabbed her shoulders, flipping them so that she was underneath him instead. Harper released a small gasp of surprise, and whilst she was distracted, he bent down and kissed her. 

His girlfriend kissed back immediately, her hands going to the back of his hair where she pulled slightly. He groaned, his hands travelling from her shoulders and down to her hips, then back up again as if he didn't know where he wanted to touch first. 

A buzz came from Harper's phone, vibrating against the side of her leg from where it rested in her pocket. She pulled it out, holding it past Stiles' head while they kissed, trying to read the screen. 

"Seriously?" He pulled away, raising his brows at her. "One, kissing someone with their eyes open isn't comfortable at all, and two, especially when their eyes are trained on their phone because they're too busy paying attention that that rather than you. You know, I used your lip scrub stuff yesterday because you said my lips were dry last week, and did you pick up on that? Nope-"

"Stiles," Harper cut him of firmly, her tone holding an edge of nervousness to it that made him pause. 

His face fell, "something happened, didn't it?"

She shoved her phone in his face, showing it to Stiles. 

SCOTT: dread doctors attacked liam and hayden. they'll be okay though. meet us at the animal clinic ASAP.

...

Rain chucked itself down onto the jeep as Harper sat in the passenger side, a nervous feeling settling in the pit of her stomach. They'd spent the last half an hour trying to get the damn thing to work so they could meet the alpha. Stiles insisted on taking the jeep rather than just driving in Harper's car- which actually worked. 

Now, as they headed towards the clinic, Harper couldn't help the dread that was pooling in her stomach, yet she had no clue why. Part of her wished she had just ignored the text. 

Upon noticing her silence, Stiles turned his head in her direction, his brows furrowing. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Harper cleared her throat. "Just worried about Liam and Hayden."

That's what it must be, she told herself. She must just be worried about them.

However, as the jeep pulled up outside the animal clinic and the Empath spotted Scott stood out in the rain waiting for them, she knew she was lying to herself. 

The couple climbed out either side of the car, moving to meet him in the front. Rain pelted down onto them, their hair sticking down and making their clothes feel like a second skin against their own.

"Sorry," Stiles apologised, not yet noticing the solemn expression on his friend's face. "I had trouble getting the jeep to start again. The thing's barely holding on. Oh, and we couldn't get in touch with Malia or Lydia."

Scott didn't say anything, he just stared. Harper frowned, tucking some of her wet locks out of her face as she examined him. He was just a ball of anger, confusion and sadness, yet Harper had no idea why.

"Scott?" Stiles tried.

Harper hesitated, "what's going on?"

Reaching into his jacket, Scott pulled out a wrench that was covered in blood. Donavon's blood. Harper turned to Stiles for confirmation, but his silence was enough. He stared at it, his face falling, his heart crumbling.

This was not how he wanted Scott to find out. 

"Where'd you get that?" Stiles muttered, portraying calmness but becoming the home for panic.

Scott breathed, "this is yours?"

Stiles clenched his jaw as he leaned forward, taking the bloodied wrench from Scott's grip. Harper could feel her heart pounding in her chest, the icy water running down her body nothing compared to the nerves she was experiencing- and she wasn't even the one that had killed Donavon.

She'd promised Stiles that Scott would forgive him immediately, that he'd understand wholeheartedly, however, judging from the look on the alpha's face, that wasn't going to happen. 

All three best friends felt sick. 

"Why didn't you tell me?" Scott asked, looking over at Harper too. "Both of you."

"Harper has nothing to do with this," the Stilinski boy defended, "and I was going to."

"Why didn't you tell me when it happened?" It was somewhat hard to hear Scott talk over the rain pouring down from above them, but Harper just about managed.

Stiles finally looked up from the wrench in his hands. "I couldn't."

"You killed him?" Scott's face fell even further, his tone indicating that he hadn't wanted to believe it. "You killed Donavon?"

"Well, he was going to kill my dad," Stiles replied defensively, "huh? Was I supposed to just let him?"

Scott responded evenly, "you weren't supposed to do this. None of us are."

There was a heavy silence between the three, other than the rain of course. The teenage girl had sort of shrank away from them, a little to the side of Stiles as she watched Scott's expression. He looked absolutely heartbroken, but Stiles felt worse. She gulped, knowing that this wasn't going to end well. Not when Scott was so determined on saving people.

"You think I had a choice?"

"There's always a choice."

Something snapped in both Harper and Stiles. She went to defend him, to ask how he had even found out about the whole thing, but Stiles had beaten her to it.

"Yeah, well, I can't do the things you can, Scott," Stiles' voice grew louder as he grew angrier. "I know you wouldn't have done it. You probably would have just figured something out, right?"

"I'd try," Scott nodded.

"Yeah, because you're Scott McCall! You're the True Alpha! Guess what? Not all of us can be True Alphas. Some of us have to make mistakes. Some of us have to get our hands a little bloody sometimes." Stiles was screaming out of pure frustration, making Harper's ears rattle. "Some of us are human!"

Scott remained annoyingly calm. "You had to kill him?"

He looked at Scott like he was crazy. "Scott, he was going to kill my dad!" Stiles attempted to get him to understand.

"But the way that it happened..." Scott breathed, shaking his head. "There's a point where it's just... it's not self-defence anymore-"

Stiles cut him off, furious. "What are you even talking about? I didn't have a choice, Scott!" He paused. "You don't even believe me, do you?"

"I want to," the Alpha swallowed.

Stiles appeared calmer. "All right, so believe me then," he pleaded, but Scott said nothing. "Scott, say you believe me. Say it. Say you believe me."

Harper wiped a tear that had fallen from under her eye, sucking down on her bottom lip as she looked at Scott. She already knew Scott's verdict. 

Stiles was guilty.

The werewolf avoided his best friends' eyes. "Stiles, we can't kill people we're trying to save."

"Say you believe me," Stiles begged one more time, walking closer.

Scott's eyes widened in horror at the wrench Stiles had raised slightly on accident, making Harper's lips part with dread. Did Scott really think that Stiles would do that? Where the hell was all of this coming from? 

Harper felt satisfaction drift from the animal clinic, and she had a fair idea of who it was coming from. Her blood boiled.

"We can't kill people," the McCall boy replied. "Do you believe that?"

"Well, what do I do about this?" Stiles croaked, desperate. "What do you want me to do, okay? Just... Scott, just tell me how to fix this, all right? Please, just tell me. What do you want me to do?"

"Don't worry about Malia or Lydia," Scott shook his head. "We'll find them. Maybe, uh... Maybe you should talk to your dad."

He left it at that, starting to walk inside. Tears were mixing with the rainwater on Stiles' face, but he didn't care. Harper clenched her fists by her side, storming after Scott.

"Harper, no..." Stiles sounded heartbroken as if he thought she was leaving with him. 

Maybe she had listened to Scott and realised that he was right. Maybe she thought she was crazy to ever believe Stiles.

The brunette placed her hand on the doorknob and turned to face Stiles. "Wait in the jeep," she muttered.

The door slammed behind her as she moved inside, finding Scott watching Theo and Liam crowd around an injured Hayden. As awful as it sounded, Harper didn't particularly care about her- she cared about the other boy. 

Scott watched in shock as he saw her stood there, appearing even more horrified as she rushed over to Theo, slamming him up against the wall with as much force as she could muster. He was much bigger than her and stronger, he could easily flip her off if he wanted to. But he didn't. 

"You bastard!" She yelled, ignoring Scott who called her name. "You're a liar! This was your plan the whole time, you asshole!"

Theo glanced up at Scott, appearing scared but Harper knew. He was emotionless. This boy was a psychopath- a stone-cold murderer. He wanted her and Stiles to look like the bad guys. 

"Get her off of me, before she kills me too!" Theo cried while Liam watched in shock as Scott tugged Harper away forcefully.

The brunette stumbled back, clenching her jaw as she glared at Scott. "Him over us? Him over us?" She screamed the last part, unable to control herself. 

"You were going to help him cover it up," Scott seethed. "You're just as bad as he is!"

Harper swallowed, looking over at Theo. Her eye twitched. He'd lied about her too. Hayden began to cry out from where she was curled in the corner, catching the attention of the boys staring at her. Instead of saying anything else, the Empath pushed Scott in the chest and rushed out of the clinic.

Everything was falling apart.


	38. Chapter 38

Harper sat in the passenger seat of the jeep, her teeth absentmindedly gritted behind her pursed lips. Other than the pat she had placed on Stiles' hand when she climbed back into the car, no exchanges had been made between the couple.

Silence hung in the air— and then smoke.

The brunette began to cough, noticing that it was coming up from by her legs in white wisps. It was outside the car too, obviously starting from the hood.

Stiles heaved coughs, slamming his hand down on the steering wheel as the smoke blocked their vision. He pulled up to the side of the road, both teenagers clambering out and coughing.

Stiles slammed the door shut behind him, his hand moving into a fist as he went straight to the back of the jeep, pulling out his kit for emergencies like this. Harper wiped her mouth from where she stood on the pavement, feeling sick from the fumes that had been suffocating them.

She watched as Stiles threw the kit onto the wet road and tossed the hood of the vehicle up, waving excess smoke away before picking the box back up and practically chucking it against his car. He opened it up, staring at whatever was inside for a few moments. In a sudden spur of rage, he flipped, grabbing the box and throwing it across the road.

Harper gulped. Her eyes softened, yet she still felt mad. Mad at Theo for lying. Mad at Scott for not believing them.

Stiles chucked the hood back down and went to the back of the car, pulling out the bloodied wrench that he had struck Donavon with. Before Harper could say anything, he went to throw it with the others- only to halt.

"Stiles?" She murmured, holding her arms in the cold.

He didn't reply. He stared down at the wrench for a moment longer and then threw it straight at the jeep. Harper gasped, her hands dropping from her sides as she watched the windshield smash, tiny shards of glass spraying everywhere.

"Stiles," the teenage girl repeated, this time firmer as she moved over to him, grabbing him gently by the arms and guiding him to the floor beside the jeep.

Stiles was panting, his hazel eyes no longer filled with tears but something worse. He didn't know what to think- his mind was a complete blur. Harper felt the same, although she couldn't imagine how much greater Stiles' scale was compared to hers.

His best friend thought he was a cold-blooded murderer.

She wrapped her arm around his shoulders, letting him lay his head on top of hers. She stroked the soaked material of his jumper, listening as he sniffled a little. Both had no idea how they were going to fix this, or if it could even be fixed.

As they sat there, drowning in silence, it began to grow tense. Stiles slowly lifted his head off of hers and she could feel the anger starting to pulse through his veins once again. Pursing her lips, she stared at him with soft eyes and reached her hand out, ready to push some relaxing energy into him.

"Don't," he shook his head, not looking at her.

Harper swallowed nervously, "Stiles, what's-"

"You lied to me, that's what's wrong," he whirled around, his hazel eyes burning with a mixture of anger and sadness. "You said that Scott wouldn't hate me and that he would listen, you promised me that."

The brunette was taken aback, not really believing that Stiles was turning on her for this. She could feel his confusion and doubt mixing with the anger. She wondered if he really meant it.

"Don't act so innocent," Stiles stood up, smacking his hand against the jeep's door and making Harper jump. "You knew this would happen, but you still gave me false hope anyway. You lied to me."

Clenching her jaw slightly, Harper climbed to her feet and glared. "Do you hear yourself right now, Stiles? You're picking fights at me because you're mad, and it's not even my fault."

"Oh, it's never your fault, is it?" Stiles ran a hand through his hair, his tone mocking as he rolled his eyes. "Nothing is ever your fault because you never make mistakes and you're so perfect, Harper!"

Clenching her fists by her side, Harper shook her head and turned her face away from him, unable to look into his eyes while he was being so stupid. He'd done this once before with the whole Isaac situation when he accused her of cheating, and that had resulted in a breakup.

Even if he was being a complete asshole right now, Harper didn't want them to break up. Stiles didn't want to either, but he couldn't stop replaying her words in her head when she had reassured him that Scott wouldn't hate him.

Now Scott hated him.

All of his friends were distancing themselves from each other.

Everything was going to shit.

"Yelling at me and trying to make me feel bad isn't going to solve anything, you dumbass," Harper spat sourly, "what do you want me to do? Say I'm sorry for how Scott acted? I'm not Scott!"

Stiles didn't say anything, his eyes holding hot tears that he didn't let fall. He clenched his jaw, knowing for a fact that she was right. The last thing he wanted was for Harper to hate him too, but he couldn't help all of the emotions that he was experiencing. He was overwhelmed, and at that moment he didn't feel good enough. For whatever twisted reason, he had felt the need to drive her away from him.

He deserved to be alone.

"Yeah, well, you said—"

"'I said!'" Harper finally yelled back, "I know what I said, Stiles. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not Scott's biggest fan either right now! He's pissed off at me too, and I'm not even the one who—"

"Killed Donavon?" Stiles grumbled, "murdered?"

"How many times do I have to tell you that it was self-defence?" Harper hissed, "you don't listen to me, like how Scott didn't listen to you, and look where it lands us! Fighting in the middle of the road at midnight, stood next to your jeep that's smashed up because you can't control your anger."

"You just don't get it," her boyfriend yelled back, "he's left me for good, but you made me believe it's all gonna be okay."

"Okay," she took a step closer to him, her tone gravely. "You want me to tell you the truth, yeah? Scott doesn't believe you. Scott thinks you're a murderer. He's disgusted by the both of us. Thinks we're the bad guys. I could practically feel the hatred pouring off of him."

Stiles tried to look unaffected by her words, but his bottom lip trembled. He knew he deserved the backlash he was getting from her. He started to realise how she was on the receiving end of Scott's anger too, but not to the extent that he was.

"You think I knew Scott would act the way he did?"

He remained silent.

"You think I fuelled you with false hope on purpose? That I wanted to set my best friends against each other?" Harper seethed, "then you don't know me at all, Stiles."

"Harper-" Regret fell from his quiet tone, but his girlfriend didn't want to hear it.

"You want to be mad at me for something that Scott did?" The Empath scoffed, shaking her head. "That's totally fine, Stiles. You do that. But I'm leaving."

Harper turned around, however, a large hand grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She immediately tugged herself away from Stiles' grip, glaring at him.

"Don't go—"

"You make no sense," she whispered, "you know I went back in there to defend you?"

A tear finally fell from his eye, trekking down his cheek. "Harper, I'm-"

"I know you don't mean it," Harper cut him off, shaking her head as she turned away from him. "But I can't listen to you right now. I think if I listen any longer we'll only start fighting again, and I really can't deal with that right now."

Stiles watched as she began to walk down the road, her hands holding her arms that were shaking slightly in the night breeze. His face scrunched up as he willed himself not to cry harder, his heart completely shattering in his chest.

Not only had he lost Scott tonight, but it looks like he was losing Harper, too.

Stiles began to sob.

Everything was falling apart.

...

Everything was falling apart.

Harper didn't have Scott or Stiles by her side anymore, the trio all fighting with each other for separate yet similar reasons.

Knowing Stiles wouldn't ask for help from anyone, Harper had asked Malia to go and pick him up the next morning, which the werecoyote had reluctantly said yes to. She still didn't really want to see him, she was scared it would be awkward.

Harper showered herself, her hair that was messy from the rainwater the night before was already softer, her skin shinier, her scent sweeter. She tossed her body onto her bed, looking up at the stars on her ceiling.

"I heard what happened," a familiar voice came from the doorway, making her eyes drift in the direction Isaac stood. "Is it true? Did Stiles really kill Donavon?"

"It was self-defence," was all she said.

Isaac nodded. "I figured as much," he sighed, moving to sit on the edge of her bed, not caring whether she wanted his company right now or not. "Malia and I broke up."

"Why?" She asked although she had seen it coming.

Everyone knew that the couple had been having problems ever since senior year started. Between Theo stirring problems and then Malia distancing herself for whatever reason, it was clear it wasn't quite working out anymore.

He shrugged numbly, "she's still searching for the Desert Wolf, she said she needs to focus on herself instead of a relationship. I don't know. We haven't really been in each other's lives for a while now."

Harper sat up, moving to sit next to him and squeezing him into a quick hug. Isaac released a shaky sigh, closing his eyes so that no tears would fall.

Anger settled in the pit of her stomach, adding to the rest already cooping up there, but she ignored it. She had a feeling that Theo had been filling Malia's head with lies, just like he had been doing with Scott.

Her head lifted from his shoulder, her brown eyes slowly widening, her breathing becoming a little quicker. Furrowing his brows, Isaac placed his hand on her arm, confused.

"Harper, what's going on?"

She swallowed. "Theo lied."

"I know. Scott will realise soon-"

"No, no, no," Harper stood from the bed and paced around the room, running a hand through her dark hair. "Theo heard Stiles' and I's conversation, he heard me promise him that Scott would never hate him.

So Theo lied to Scott, resulting in Scott and Stiles falling out, and then Stiles and I fighting. Theo lied to Malia, so now Malia isn't talking to anyone in the pack, including you, making you too upset to help, and Lydia's wrapped up with Parrish, Liam's with Hayden who's in trouble, and Kira's out of the picture completely."

He sighed, "so the pack's falling apart? Yeah, I already knew that."

"No!" Harper repeated, rushing for her denim jacket and slipping it over her body. "It means Theo planned all of this. He set us all against each other- all against Scott! Who's Liam gonna blame when Hayden ends up dying after he begged him to bite her? Who's supposed to hate Scott right now? Stiles and I! Everybody that should be backing him up is against him now. Scott's standing alone!"

Isaac swallowed nervously, rising from the bed, his blue eyes twitching slightly. "What- what does this mean?"

"What's today?" She tried to pry it out of him as she slipped her shoes on over her socks. 

The werewolf's jaw went slack as he realised, "the supermoon."

"It's going to happen tonight," Harper glanced out of her bedroom, seeing the full moon settling high in the sky, something that usually looked beautiful but only meant terror to the teenagers tonight. "Whatever Theo has planned, I can bet you anything it's tonight."

"Then we need to go- Harper!" Isaac screamed, watching as the brunette fell to the floor.

He rolled her over, horrified when he saw her pained expression. She coughed, spitting up a little blood.

Memories of Allison Argent flooded Isaac's brain, ultimately making him panic, his eyes flashing golden. He remembered the way the crimson liquid travelled past her rosy lips and down her pale skin- in fact, he couldn't forget. The image was burned into his brain, it invaded his nightmares sometimes, too.

She grabbed hold of him, letting him help pull her up. She winced as another flash of pain went around the back of her head, blood trickling from a cut in her neck.

"We're too late, aren't we?" He grabbed her, starting to haul her out of the room and towards the stairs.

"While I'm still in pain, he's still alive."

...

Unluckily for them, the drive to the school library was ten minutes long. It didn't sound like much until those ten minutes turned both physically and mentally agonising. Every inflict of pain Scott endured, Harper felt. She'd had to move to the back seats of her car while Isaac drove, trying to reach any member of the pack for help. Nobody was answering.

The werewolf pulled up outside the school, her brakes squealing as the car came to a very sudden halt. Harper groaned as Isaac rushed around to the back, slipping his arm underneath her for support. She could barely hold on, feeling some tissues start to repair, while others became bruised and battered.

"He's losing," the Empath announced as they made it through the halls, going as quick as they could with an injured Harper. "Oh my god, he's losing."

Isaac growled, "I'm going to kill Theo."

They made it to the doors of the library, finding them left wide open. A circle of mountain ash went around the inside, stopping any supernatural creatures from going in our leaving. 

Inside, all of the furniture was smashed up, glass everywhere. Through the large window at the back, the supermoon glowed, sending its light down on the werewolves fighting in the middle.

Harper was appalled to see that it was Liam fighting Scott, not Theo. Mason stood by the door, screaming for his best friend to stop, but it was too late. Liam raised his clawed hand, and with no hesitation, sliced through Scott's chest.

The brunette felt it on herself, jolting forwards accidentally, searing pain in her chest as blood immediately began to sink through her shirt. Isaac gripped hold of her, growling at Liam, his body morphing without him even realising it.

Liam kept slashing Scott, making blood spray all up the werewolf. The Alpha didn't even try and fight back- he was too weak and Harper could feel it. She crumbled down to the floor, pushing Isaac's hands off of her. She couldn't stand anymore- she didn't want to stand anymore.

Scrunching her eyes up in a mixture of pain and concentration, Harper desperately tried to disconnect herself. She let out wails, swallowing thickly as Mason screamed for Liam again, making the slicing stop.

Liam panted, looking down at his bloodied claws, his eyes filling with tears. "Hayden," he whimpered.

"She's gone," Mason announced, his voice thick with regret. "Hayden died a few minutes ago. She's gone."

Liam ran.

Slowly, Harper began to recover on the floor. Her brown eyes blinked quickly, letting out a small sigh of relief as Scott's pain melted from her body. Isaac helped her up off of the floor, sending her a worried look, but she just shook her head, crossing the mountain ash and going inside.

Scott had his arm flung over Mason's shoulders, his eyes droopy as Harper moved over, breathing out his name sadly. Anything Scott had said to her or Stiles the night before- no matter how much they were supposed to hate each other right now- it didn't matter. Scott and Harper had been best friends since they were nine, and he was dying.

"What happened?" Mason asked.

"It's the supermoon," Scott explained, his voice drained. "It was just-"

"Bad timing," a voice came from behind Harper, making her flinch. It was Theo. "I mean, seriously. You couldn't have waited five minutes?"

He shoved Mason off of Scott, making the sophomore boy fall and smack his head straight against one of the oak tables. Mason was out before he even hit the ground. Scott moved weakly, standing in front of Harper, his hand ghosting over her wrist to keep her back.

Harper knew that Scott was in no condition to defend her right now. They were both so screwed. She looked out of the circle of mountain ash, finding Isaac knocked out on the floor. Theo must have snuck up behind him because they didn't even hear him go down.

"I should have stayed," Theo gritted his teeth, "I should have made sure."

"Because now you have to kill me yourself."

"They're still mine," he referred to the pack, his eyes shifting towards Harper who was trying to think of something as quickly as she could. "Maybe not yet, but they'll come around."

"Not for you," Scott was cut off by Theo digging his claws into his stomach, making him cry out. "They're not like you. They never will be."

Harper's mouth parted in shock, horrified. She guessed her Empath side was too weak by now to feel whatever was going on inside Scott's stomach right now because everything just felt kind of tingly.

"Because I'm a Chimera?" Theo guessed, "because I'm not a real werewolf?"

"Because you're barely even human."

Theo threw Scott to the floor and grabbed Harper by the wrist, lifting it so that she was facing him. "How do I control you?" He yelled, desperate.

"You need a connection," Harper breathed, looking up at the death grip that he had on the wrist behind held above her head. "But Scott's my alpha. Not you. You'll never be."

Theo growled, throwing the brunette to the floor. She landed next to Mason, groaning out in pain as her back smacked against it. Her head went kind of fuzzy, leading her to assume that she had hit that too. She heard as Theo marched away, but nothing from Scott.

"No," she cried, crawling back onto her knees.

She shakily made her way over to the boy that was like her brother. Her heart was pounding, a scream of pure mental agony threatening to push up her throat as she reached him where he was lying by the stairs, not breathing. His eyes were long closed.

Scott was dead.

"Scotty," Harper sobbed, hot tears trailing down her face and hitting his bloodied one. "Scotty, no, no, no, you can't do this to me. You can't do this to us."

Scott McCall had made a couple of mistakes lately, that was for sure, but the last thing the boy deserved was this. Just like Allison had once said to Harper- Scott was the nicest person she knew. Scott had saved them all hundreds of times, and yet now that it was Harper's turn to save him she'd failed.

Harper had failed Scott.

An agonising wail came from her lips, causing Mason, who had woken back up, to flinch. The Empath sounded more like a Banshee, her cry enough to make the toughest of men's heart shatter. She bunched his torn shirt in her hands, brown eyes stuck to his dead body as she heaved with mental pain.

She heard a sniffle behind her and realised Mason was right there. He placed a hand on her shoulder as if to say sorry for her loss, but Harper wasn't giving up yet.

She began to do chest compressions, pumping like she had learned when she was younger. She pinched his nose and pressed her lips against his lips, blowing air inside. Sobs racked her body and she was unable to keep calm.

Nothing was working.

She leaned her head above his heart, trying to listen for a beat or to feel a breath escape his lips. There was nothing. Harper's cheek pressed against his chest as she cried, her hand moving to grip his lifeless one.

She had no idea how long she had been like that before footsteps came running from outside, followed by Melissa's screams. Harper could barely see her through her own tears.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Melissa shrieked, her voice making everything even more painful.

She dropped to her knees on the other side of Scott, moving Harper's trembling hands out of the way as she began to pump against his chest, muttering the numbers under her breath. Melissa was a lot calmer than Harper was right now, despite being his mother. She guessed it was because the woman was such a great nurse. But she was struggling- everybody could tell.

"What are you doing?" Mason muttered numbly, shaking his head. "What are you doing?"

"Bringing him back!" Melissa cried.

"But... his heart. He hasn't had a pulse in over fifteen minutes. You can't bring someone back that's-"

Melissa looked up from her job, her brown eyes hard. "He's not someone. He's my son. And he's an Alpha. And he's too strong to die like this!" She screamed the last part, making Harper bite her lip and look away.

Looking at Scott's unmoving face made her heartache. He wasn't coming back, she was sure of it. Now she had to watch his mother mourn over his dead body and figure out a way to tell the rest of her friends- how to tell Stiles, his best friend.

"Come on," the Hispanic woman whispered pleadingly. "Open your eyes and look at me. Okay? Come on. Breathe, baby. Breathe."

"Melissa, it's-"

"Shut up!" The mother yelled at Mason, "he's too strong to die like this. Come on. You can do this. You're an Alpha. You're an Alpha."

Harper dropped her head onto Mason's shoulder, swallowing thickly and closing her eyes that were swollen from all of the tears. She listened to Melissa's desperate pleas.

"Come on, Scott. Roar," she muttered before screaming again, "come on, Scott! Roar!"

She slammed her hands down onto his chest one more time. A sudden roar made Mason and Melissa jump away in shock, Harper's eyes widening and her lips parting. Scott's eyes glowed bright red as he arched up, his voice rattling the whole library and making Isaac shift out of his state of unconsciousness.

Scott McCall was alive.


	39. Chapter 39

Hot water cascaded down Harper's back, burning her scalp and her shoulders. The blood that had caked to her stomach from connecting to Scott began to break away from her skin, slowly falling with the water and going down the drain. Steam poured from the shower, fogging up the windows and the glass. 

She ran a hand through her hair, pushing it back off of her face. It looked black underneath the water, and her skin that had paled from the horrors of the night had red splotches from the scorching temperature of the water.

Harper knew that it was burning her, making her go a little dizzy, but she felt too comfortable- in an odd way- to turn it down now.

The brunette glanced down at the crimson liquid gathering by the drain, her eyes flickering painfully in her head. She winced, holding it.

When her brown eyes reopened, they were no longer focused on a white, pristine floor beneath her feet but black and white tiles.

What the hell?

The water kept going, but she was too afraid to look back up. The closed space that she had been in had opened up into a new room. As she tilted her head slightly to the left side she realised that she was in one of a row of showers. The rest were all empty, the sound of the water echoing as it smacked onto the hard floor.

"Harper, Lydia, you two are gonna need to hurry up," a woman with a southern accent complained.

Harper's eyes widened a little, her head snapping to the right where the strawberry blonde stood. She was under the shower next to Harper, her green eyes locked on the wall ahead. Water trailed down her naked body, steam rolling off of it. She didn't seem influenced in the slightest that Harper was next to her.

Ignoring the fact that they were both naked, Harper turned her entire body to face her friend.

"Lydia?" She asked, her voice sounding almost haunting with the amount of fear in it. "Lydia, what's happening right now?"

"Ladies!" The woman called again, making Harper look over her shoulder.

The woman appeared to be in her late forties maybe, her hair tied back and pulling at all of her wrinkles, making her appear grumpier than her tone. She held two towels in her hands, her body slumped up against the doorway while she tapped her foot impatiently.

It was the uniform on her that made her freeze.

Eichen uniform.

"Lydia," Harper began to shake her friend's arm roughly, but she didn't even flinch. "Lydia, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are we here?"

Lydia turned to her, her mouth opening and opening until suddenly— she screamed.

Harper was holding her ears when she came out of the hallucination, her body crouched slightly near the floor of the shower. The brunette looked around frantically, her heartbeat slowing as a sigh of relief escaped her lips.

She was back home.

Without hesitation, she yanked the dial down and climbed out of the shower, wrapping a towel around her cleaned body. Her hair dripped down her back as she pushed into her bedroom, moving over to her phone. She noticed she had two missed calls from Stiles, probably him just calling back from earlier when she had tried to reach all of the pack to save Scott.

He was the only one that had called her back.

She scrolled to Lydia's contact and pressed 'call', but nobody picked up. Huffing, she unwrapped herself from her towel and dried herself down before getting changed into some black skinny jeans and the first shirt she picked off the floor, which happened to be one of Stiles'. She tied it around her front so the material wasn't baggy around her. The sleeves still came down to her elbows, though. Not that she minded.

The brunette planned on talking to him today, but in person, not over the phone. Seeing Scott die had made her realise that the same thing could happen to him at any moment, and she didn't want to lose him while they were still upset with each other. She'd cooled down a lot since two nights ago and now she just needed Stiles.

Harper dried her hair, knowing for sure she'd freeze if she went out with wet hair tonight. She grabbed her phone and slipped it into her back pocket, almost stumbling over a body lying on the floor. Scott was only just waking up from where Isaac was crouched over him.

"What happened?" She gulped, leaning down to help him up. "Scott, you're still bleeding."

"It's not that bad," he shuddered.

"Scott," Harper swallowed, any resentment that she had felt towards the boy for the past couple of days dissolving. "You're my best friend. You are the first person I ever empathically connected to. I know when it's bad."

He stared at her in wonderment, wondering how on earth she could act like he hadn't just committed the ultimate betrayal against her and Stiles. Harper had always been a stubborn girl, but he knew her Empath abilities allowed her to understand actions better, therefore making her a little more level-headed than she used to be.

Suddenly, footsteps came pounding up the stairs, making everybody flinch. Isaac flicked his claws out, stepping in front of Harper and Scott defensively.

However, to everybody's surprise, it was Parrish that appeared, holding his hands up in defence.

"Why are you here?" The Lahey boy raised his brows, retracting his claws as his shoulders sagged in relief.

"I need your help," he looked at Harper, making her frown.

"Me?" She felt kind of special, but also nervous. Nobody ever needed her help. "With what?"

"With her," Parrish stepped back, revealing Lydia.

Except it wasn't normal-Lydia, it was like Lydia from Harper's hallucination. She was upright, but her face was emotionless and her head looked too heavy for her body as she stared off into the distance.

Harper could feel her panic.

"What happened?" Scott demanded to know, his brows pulled down into a heavy frown.

"I found her out in the woods," the deputy began, "her body was freezing- she was practically hypothermic. But that wasn't even the worst part. She scratched into a rock with her nails until they fell off. They were stars."

Stars.

"Why do you need me?" Harper folded her arms across her chest, "they're just stars. That could mean anything."

Except the three teenagers knew what stars meant to her. Even if Scott and Isaac didn't know why they meant so much to her, they at least knew that they were her thing.

"Because she said your name, Harper," Parrish explained, "and she hasn't spoken a word since."

Pursing her lips, Harper looked past the policeman to stare at her friend. "Lydia?" She murmured, taking a step closer and placing her hand on her arm. "Lyds?"

Lydia still didn't move.

But then Harper heard her.

Harper, I saw it. I saw your hallucination.

The Empath recalled what Parrish had said. Lydia was trying to protect her. Memories of the hallucination that she had had only twenty minutes ago flooded her brain, making her freeze up a little in fear.

"Harper?" Isaac called upon noticing her stunned silence.

She snapped out of it quickly. "Take her to the hospital," Harper swallowed, "that's the best thing for her."

Scott nodded as Parrish lifted the strawberry blonde into his strong arms without hesitation.

"You coming?" The Alpha asked her.

"Actually, I think I need to figure something out first," Harper swallowed.

Isaac's brows furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

"Stiles had been doing some digging, what with everything my dad said to me, and he said he thinks he knows someone that can explain these hallucinations to me," she continued. "Thing is, she lives a couple of states over."

"Now?" Scott questioned, "don't you think now isn't a good time?"

"I think now is the best time," Harper said determinedly. "My dad told me Empaths may have something to do with the Dread Doctors. If there's something I can do to stop this- to help Lydia- then I need to know now. Before everything gets one hundred times worse."

"I'll come with you," Isaac insisted.

She shook her head quickly. "I'm gonna be gone for a few days. I'll keep you updated though, all right? You keep me updated, too."

Scott pursed his lips. "Does Stiles know you're leaving today?"

"No," Harper sighed, "Stiles and I aren't exactly on talking terms right now, but tell him that I'm going to visit the place he showed me. And tell him I need to talk to him when I get back."

The werewolf hesitated before he nodded, confirming that he would do as she asked.

Parrish looked down at Lydia in his arms worriedly before his gaze returned to the three teenagers. The eye contact that he made with Harper was enough to tell her that he needed to leave now. She sent him a nod.

"Take care of her."

"Always."

...

Twenty minutes later, Harper had slung a duffel bag over her shoulder and was heading out to her car. She threw it in the back and began to drive, her eyes absentmindedly concentrated on the road ahead while her brain swirled with theories on why Lydia-in-a-comatose could telepathically communicate with her.

Maybe she had been hallucinating then too?

Harper shuddered at the thought and pinched her arm, the stinging sensation that occurred being enough to tell her that this was real. She was leaving Beacon Hills, and if it was anything to do with the dream she had in the shower- it was because of Eichen House, or more the people inside it.

Her father.

The brunette's phone began to buzz from where it sat on the passenger seat, her eyes quickly darting over to see who was calling. Stiles' face flashed on the screen, so she guessed that by now Scott had alerted him on her whereabouts. She sighed when the phone began to ring again. Pulling over to the side of the road, she grabbed it and pressed decline.

TO STILES:  
I can't talk right now, I'm driving.

His reply was immediate, although that wasn't a surprise to Harper. He had probably been holding the phone and getting mad over the fact that she had declined his call when it came through.

FROM STILES:  
I know, Scott told me.

FROM STILES:  
You're leaving???

TO STILES:  
Only for a few days

FROM STILES:  
Why didn't you tell me?

TO STILES:  
We're not exactly talking right now, are we?  
Plus everybody needs you right now, including Scott.

FROM STILES:  
Scott betrayed me, he was on Theo's side.   
Theo almost killed my dad.

Harper's heart skipped a beat at the mention of Sheriff Stilinski and immediately she started calling her boyfriend, not caring if she promised herself not to talk to him until it was face to face.

"Harper?"

"Yeah," she sighed, "what's wrong with your dad?"

"We don't really know. Theo practically gutted him, but there are toxins in his body that are killing him, Harps," his voice lowered the more he spoke, becoming shaky.

Harper hesitated. "Do you want me to come to the hospital?"

There was silence. Both teenagers knew what Stiles wanted to say. Harper also knew what she wanted to do, but she knew what she had to do. It was either asking her father or this lady that claimed she could help her.

"No," he sighed, and she could imagine his eyes scrunched up, his hand on his forehead as he leaned against the wall. "No, no. You need to do what you have to do. Do you want me to send you the address, or do you have it?"

Harper pursed her lips. "I already have it, Stiles," she murmured softly. "I hope your dad gets better soon, okay? Tell him when he wakes up, cause I know he will, that I wish I could be there."

There was a silence on the other end like Stiles didn't quite believe her. He exhaled loudly.

"Thanks, I'll tell him."

"I'll call you," she promised. "I'll call you later today when I get there."

"Yeah," Stiles croaked. "Please do that. Please call me."

Harper paused at the desperation of his tone, not quite expecting the intensity of it.

"Okay," she whispered and hesitated before adding, "I love you, Stiles."

A small pause came from the other end before there was a shaky sigh of relief. "I love you too, Harper."

She hesitated again before hanging up the phone, a sigh leaving her lips as she closed her eyes. She pressed her head against the back of the seat.

Guilt began to eat her alive because she wasn't turning around to go to the hospital right now.

A tap on her window shocked her, causing her to jolt almost spastically. Her eyes darkened when she saw who was on the other side.

The Eichen woman from her hallucination.

...


	40. Chapter 40

"Sorry that I didn't call you last night, the drive was long and I fell asleep at some motel."

That was her voice. English accent- slightest twang of American in there- and soft. It sounded exactly like it was her talking, yet no words were escaping her lips from where she lied on the bed staring up at the ceiling.

Harper turned her head to the side, blinking when she saw herself stood there.

"That's fine," she heard the stressed sigh of her boyfriend, causing her eyes to widen a little. "I thought you might want to know that my dad's awake."

"That's great, Stiles," the other her spoke softly, sounding happy- but she didn't smile. "Tell him that I say hi."

"What-" Harper tried to speak, her voice cracking. Her throat was incredibly dry, causing her to start coughing, her cheeks going red.

The other Harper glanced at her and her eyes narrowed as a warning.

"Who's with you?" Stiles asked quietly, "have you made it to the lady yet?"

"Hm? Oh, yeah, you can probably hear the TV. Keeps cutting out and turning itself back on. I'll talk to you later, yeah? You spend time with your dad," she insisted.

"Yeah, yeah, but when you get back, can we please have our talk?"

"Of course," Other Harper replied.

Harper's mouth opened to make noise, anything to alert Stiles she was not okay, but Other Harper moved forward, wrapping her hand around her throat. She gasped, though it was barely audible from where Other Harper's hands were pushing down harshly.

"Good, good," Stiles murmured before there was a small pause. "I'll call you again soon. I love you, bye."

"Yeah, bye." Other Harper hung up the phone, releasing the Empath so she spluttered painful coughs.

"Who are you?" Harper glared, glancing down at her wrists that were tied by leather straps to the bed beneath her. "What the hell is going on?"

"See if you recognise me now," they replied and when Harper blinked- it was no longer her but her father.

A horrified expression contorted on the teenage girl's face, a despicable feeling of violation coursing through her body. The restraints pinched at her wrists as her impulses made her jolt upwards. She winced, but her glare didn't falter.

"How did you do that?" She seethed.

"I can take the form of anyone," Valack smiled proudly.

Harper noticed how much cleaner he looked. There was no bandage around his forehead and somehow the hole had vanished. Instead of jogging bottoms and a shirt, he wore the trousers and waistcoat he always used to wear to work. She realised that he must have somehow gained control back.

He wasn't a patient anymore. 

A sudden realisation that she was the patient caused her heartbeat to increase dramatically. This is what Valack had been threatening the whole time. It's what he did to her mother and her brother and what he came close to doing to her last year.

But now he really had her.

This was really it.

Before she knew it, she was having a panic attack. Her breaths came out quick and shallow and her eyes scrunched shut as she whimpered. Clenching her fists shut, she tried to calm the frantic beating of her heart and the sweat that was starting to form a thin sheet over her skin.

"Harper," a familiar voice called.

Stiles.

He leaned down, stroking her hair out of her face while his hazel eyes twinkled with concern. His slender fingers brushed against her forehead, making her flinch. Stiles' hands were always warm- these were freezing.

Harper appeared almost frozen herself. 'Stiles' noticed and reached down, squeezing her wrist that was already restrained.

"Tell me, Harper," 'Stiles' practically sneered, "did you find out? Did you see what makes you so confusing to them?"

This was just like the dream she had the night of the senior scribe. She had seen this happen before.

"You're not Stiles," Harper cried, tears falling. "Stop."

Her vision grew blurred before it was her father in front of her again. He didn't look too pleased that she hadn't fallen for it, his blue eyes glaring into hers. Harper thought it was truly disturbing that he was trying to take on the form of her boyfriend to get information out of her.

"I can become anyone," Valack explained, "I've been able to do it since I drilled the hole into my head. Since I gained true vision. It's how I got your little friend Lydia down to the supernatural level."

Lydia.

Harper lurched up as far as she could with the restraints pinning her down. "What the bloody hell have you done with her?"

"Your friend is a Banshee, not to mention the reason I was able to escape," he smirked, making Harper pull a face of confusion. "Her scream was powerful enough to shatter the glass. You know, she would be deadly to go up against if someone taught her how to control her abilities."

"Why is she here?" Harper dismissed his previous words, her tone much firmer.

"If this is to go wrong as it did with your mother, the banshee would see it, of course. I can't have her alerting your friends. Even in her comatose state she still manages somehow," he sighed.

Harper's eyes widened, half glaring and half terrified. She felt her body go almost numb, her eyes stinging.

"You're going to kill me and nobody's going to find out," she realised. "You're sick. Twisted."

Valack huffed as he moved across the room, picking up some needles. Using a cloth, he began to briefly clean the sharped edge, making the brunette grimace. She'd always had a distaste for needles, but this was perhaps one of the longest that she had ever seen. Her father pricked his finger with the end and raised his brows at the sharpness.

"It's not my intention to kill you, Harper," Valack insisted. "If anything, I want you alive. You're the last Empath. If you had offspring, maybe I wouldn't be so cautious, but point is- if you die, the experiments stop altogether."

Maybe it's better off that way, she thought bitterly.

"So why do you need Lydia?" Harper asked as she began to silently tug against the restraints— but to no avail. "If you want me alive, why do you think I will die?"

"It's likely it will happen," he sighed. "Especially in the limited time I probably have with you. While I remain keeping your friends unsuspecting, I fear they will figure out when you don't return after a while. So I must hurry, and these experiments are not to be rushed. I learned that the hard way with your mother."

Harper closed her eyes, shaking her head at the thought. That's why he had kept Harry for so long. It had taken him years to get to the point he had with Harry, and he wasn't even finished yet. Now he planned on doing the same thing to her in a matter of days.

"She died in this very room, you know," Valack recalled. "Are you able to feel her pain? When you focus on it?"

The Empath had no intentions on doing so. She stared at her father with a blank face, making his top lip curl into a vicious sneer.

"Can you?" He demanded, harsher.

"No," Harper spat. "No- and I don't want to, either!"

She could feel her blood start to boil, becoming furious with the man stood in front of her.

"You can't keep me here! You can't do this to me! My friends will figure it out, you bastard!"

A large hand striking her face silenced her.

She spat out the blood that clung to the insides of her cheeks, aiming straight at her dad. He growled in disgust, wiping it away. He dropped the needle back onto the metal table beside her bed and walked over to a towel, wiping it across his cheek swiftly.

"Don't think for a second because you're my daughter that I will treat you better than the other patients," he seethed.

"Wasn't counting on it."

Valack hissed, "oh, Harper. The experiments haven't even begun yet."

...

"Doctor Valack thought you could do with a little company," the woman from before huffed as she opened the door to the room that Harper was being held in. "Might keep you quiet."

She had her back to Harper, her red curls bouncing as she pulled in a girl on a wheelchair. Harper's breath hitched in her throat when she saw the strawberry blonde waves, and then the chair was turned around.

It was Lydia.

"Lyds," Harper strained against the straps, gritting her teeth as she glared at Nurse Cross.

Sweat dampened the hair around Harper's forehead and clung to her skin the more and more she pulled. Her head lifted up off of the pillow, craning to see as another Eichen worker came in, helping Lydia out of the wheelchair and into the bed.

Lydia was just as bad as Harper had remembered her being- if not worse. Her green eyes remained wide on the ceiling above her as she was practically dropped. Harper rolled her eyes at the way they handled her, feeling the anger in the pit of her stomach rise.

The male worker turned to face Harper. He wore a sadistic smirk, causing the bile to rise in her throat. Something about the man sent her bad vibes, but it could have been a number of things. The way he had touched Lydia a little too much and the way he was looking at Harper being two of those things. He was probably in his late thirties, but the bags under his eyes made him appear slightly older.

He moved down, touching Harper's hand gently and moving the restraints back a little. His eyes cast down to her bruised wrists and he shook his head, tutting slightly.

"You shouldn't tug," he muttered, "it leaves bruises on your pretty skin."

Fear started to replace the anger in her stomach and it grew- spreading to her hands which trembled against his. She pushed her head as far as she could back into the pillow, away from the man's face that was looming over her.

"Stop bein' a creep," huffed the southern woman, rolling her eyes. "Doctor Valack doesn't like you talking to his patients."

The man's face hardened and he dropped Harper's weak wrist, storming out of the room. The door slammed behind him, causing the teenage girl's body to sag in relief. She looked across to Lydia, but she wasn't looking back- obviously.

Nurse Cross was snapping her fingers in front of Lydia's face.

"You really think she's gonna reply to that?" Harper hissed, trying to hide the anxiousness making her body shake.

The Nurse sighed, not looking back at the Empath, "I have been here a long time, Lydia. You think I haven't seen this before? I know when patients are pretending. Manipulating to get what they want."

Harper scoffed, shaking her head. This woman didn't know anything. Her eyes widened when Nurse Cross grabbed Lydia by the jaw, forcing her to look her in the eye.

"Get the hell off of her," Harper ordered.

"It's your fault," the woman glared at Harper, releasing Lydia. She began to walk over, pointing her finger. "She wouldn't be in this unit if it weren't for you."

"It's not my fault," Harper spat. "It's my dad's. My friends are gonna get me out of here, you know? You should just let both of us go."

"And why would I do that?" She sneered. "You really think they'll think something's wrong when 'you're' calling them every day to tell them you're safe? I don't think so."

Harper smirked slightly. "My friends aren't just my friends. They're my pack. And they'll figure it out. They always do."

...

The Empath laid on the bed while her father sat down beside her, scribbling information down into a leather book. She slowly turned her head to watch him, memories of him sitting beside her bed and reading to her as a child flooding back.

"You read it to me before," she recalled, causing Valack to glance up curiously. "That's what I saw. I saw mum yell at you, and you grabbed her."

"Someone had to put her in her place," the doctor muttered, not missing how Harper's eyes flashed with fury. "Tell me what else you saw."

Harper paused, "would it help with volume two?"

"It would."

She chuckled dryly, "then no."

His face hardened and he slammed the book he was writing into down on the table by her head. Valack grabbed her by the jaw, turning her face so that she was forced to look at him. Harper sent him a glare, her eyes narrowing at the man.

"Let me go," she demanded, her eyes flashing purple.

He laughed, releasing her and shaking his head. "You can't manipulate me, that's what true vision helps to grant as well as the other advantages, of course. Protection against manipulation."

Harper growled under her breath, becoming frustrated.

"Let's make a deal," he sat back down, a little calmer than before. "I imagine you still don't know a lot about your kind. I can tell you what you need to know, and in return, you will tell me what you saw in your hallucinations. Deal?"

Finding a loophole in his compromise, Harper nodded. "Deal."

"You may ask your first question."

Harper thought for a moment, "why am I the only one left? What happened to all of the other Empaths? The ones you didn't kill, that is."

Glaring, Valack began to explain, "Empaths have always been one of the rarest of supernatural creatures, a community of about fifteen families living in the countryside in England dating back to five hundred years ago. It was a powerful creature that wiped out most of them, leaving only three families left, one of those families being the Verums, and the others being Harry's family."

"The third?" Harper asked.

"Unimportant. They were wiped out by that same creature a few years before World War I."

Harper's breath hitched in her throat, "so there's something out there that wipes out Empaths, leading them to the point of endangerment?"

Valack nodded, "it's not what they set out to do, but Empaths are vulnerable to them. They create immense fear that they feed off, causing entire towns to be taken over by emotion. That's dangerous for the Empath. Too much can kill them."

"The Dread Doctors?" She assumed, her eyes widening a little in fear.

Shaking his head, Valack scoffed, "no. The Anuk-Ite, or Double Face as some call it. It hasn't been seen since 1912, in the USA, though. A man in this very building sent him away, into a whole other universe."

"Who?" Harper questioned.

"Too many questions," Valack shook his head. "Tell me what you saw."

"I saw the Dread Doctors," she started her lie smoothly, hoping to cause her dad fear. "They found me in the woods when I was about six and they told me..."

She trailed off deliberately, trying to make her act believable.

"Told you what?" He demanded, sitting eagerly at the end of his seat.

"That they were going to kill you."


	41. Chapter 41

It had been a few days.

As far as Harper was concerned, the pack still had no clue about the amount of danger that she and Lydia were in. They thought Lydia was being cared for in a better unit and that Harper was still getting help.

Harper had no idea what was going on back in Beacon Hills, and that terrified her.

Her father had taken a few blood samples over the past forty-eight hours, but so far nothing had been painful. He seemed worried about the lie that she had told him, constantly keeping guards out.

The brunette often, pathetically, found herself talking to Lydia when they were left alone. Of course, the banshee never replied- not even telepathically like she had done back at the McCall household.

Harper often felt fear and surprise come from the strawberry blonde, leading her to believe she was most likely trapped inside her own mind. Sometimes Lydia's emotions would go silent again and she was left feeling nothing. Just numbness as she stared up at the ceiling, completely unmoving.

The door opened and Valack entered, although Harper wasn't shocked at all. She'd seen her dad more in the past two days than she had seen of him in the past six years.

He sat down on the chair he had propped by her head, taking a needle out of his breast pocket. Harper eyed the black liquid inside it cautiously.

"What's that?" She dared to ask.

"You'll find out soon enough," Valack grunted as he hovered the needle over a vein on the inside of her arm.

Harper gasped as she felt the sharpness poke through her skin, her bottom lip quivering as she felt him inject the black substance. The dark-haired girl gasped loudly, her back arching from the bed. She could feel it in her veins— they felt like they were on fire.

"The physical form of pain," he smiled lightly, watching as his daughter began to cry out. "What you are experiencing is normal with this injection. Actually-" he paused, watching the tears stroll down her face as she sobbed in agony. "Perfect."

He took a small plastic tube off of the table next to him and placed it under her eyes, collecting each salty tear as it strolled down her face. To say that they were uncontrollable would be the understatement of the year.

She'd never cried so much.

Her cheeks were soaked with tears, and by the end, the small tube was filled to the brim. He grabbed another needle, this one containing a purple liquid. Harper shook her head quickly, her wrists weakly springing up to resist against the leather straps.

"Stop," she screamed, "dad, no. Please!"

Valack seemed to hesitate at the name. He paused slightly before his tongue darted out to wet his lip. Harper's eyes were scrunched up as she practically ripped her throat raw with the screams.

Lydia remained unmoving in the bed across from her in the small room. But she could hear everything. She could see everything.

Shaking his head, Valack snapped out of his distraught state and sent the needle into her other arm. It was a little tricky to do due to her frantic thrashing, but the restraints kept her a mostly under control.

Harper didn't think it was possible, but the pain intensified. Her stomach felt like it was being ripped in half, gasps for breath escaping her lips. She looked down at said body part, half expecting to see a knife jammed inside it or something.

Nothing was there, just a pool of blood rising to the top of her grey shirt and spreading.

"This," Valack managed to just about cut in over her screams. "This will be the last physical pain you experienced due to your empathic abilities. I'm guessing, since this is bad, it was from your Alpha. Scott McCall, am I correct?"

He had a different tube, holding it under her eyes as he collected more tears. Harper squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to let him take anymore. But somehow they managed to squeeze past her lids. When her eyes snapped open, they flashed purple.

"Leave me alone," Harper howled, sick of suffering. "You're cruel, you- you-"

She slammed her scrunched fists down onto the mattress beneath her, kicking her legs down on the bed. The sensation coursing through her entire body was so sickening she didn't know what to do.

Valack sighed, removing the tube from underneath her eyes. He had enough of her tears to work with for now anyway.

He watched as her body began to tremble, the pain subsiding along with her sobs. They slowly drowned down to whimpers.

Even as she fell asleep, sweat and tears staining her whole body, small cries still escaped her lips.

Harper wanted to go home.

...  
All Harper could see was darkness.

And then an ear piercing scream shattered the emptiness, the type of scream that could only belong to a Banshee.

"Harper," a hand stroked her sweaty hair, pushing it back off of her face from where it clung to her forehead. "That's it, wake up."

The brunette came to, blinking as she adjusted to the light of the room. A figure blocked most of it, and as her vision became unblurred, she realised that it was a certain strawberry blonde.

Immediately she recalled how her father had managed to shift into Harper herself and Stiles, making her flinch back.

"You're not Lydia," she muttered, "you're pretending to be Lydia."

"No," Lydia cried, shaking her head. "I don't know what's happening, or how you can see me right now, to be honest, but this is me. I can't wake up. I don't know how to wake up."

"I know it's y-you," the Empath stammered, "you're tricking me again."

"I swear to god, Harper. This is me. Lydia Martin. Your best friend," the girl reassured her frantically. "Valack did it to me too, but with Aiden."

Harper's eyes widened, but not much. Her body felt like it had been drained of all of its energy. It felt like she needed a hundred years more sleep to recover.

"H-how-"

"I don't know," Lydia cut her off, continuing to panic. "Meredith's here. Well, with fake-me, I guess. She's helping me find out how to use my voice as a weapon. I'm gonna get us out of here, Harps. I promise I'm going to get you out of here."

Weakly, her fingers tried to stretch out to reach Lydia's hand that was rested on her mattress. The banshee noticed and tried to grab it, frowning when her hand sunk straight through.

A tear slipped from Harper's eye, travelling down her cheek. She was surprised she even had tears left to cry after everything that had happened before.

"I'm sorry," whimpered Lydia, "I wish I could wake up and help you right now."

"It's okay," Harper whispered, her breaths a little short as she felt herself start to lose consciousness again. "It's okay."

...

When Harper woke up Lydia was gone. There was no other bed in the room- nothing. Valack entered the room, making Harper flinch. He placed his briefcase down on the table next to her bed, nodding a little when he realised that she had gained consciousness again.

"I'm guessing you're wondering where we moved your friend," Valack spoke. "She went back up to the unit with the other patients. Her mother wanted to visit, and of course, we couldn't have her discovering you."

Harper exhaled shakily, "you heard Lydia scream. You're scared she's getting stronger." She watched the way her father clearly ignored her. "She is, you know. She's working this out, and when she does, she'll be the one that helps me."

"Haven't you ever wanted to save yourself, Harper?" Valack sighed, moving to sit down next to her, ditching the briefcase momentarily. "You always say your friends will find you, but doesn't it frustrate you that you can never save yourself? You're constantly relying on everybody around you."

Harper's tongue moved out to swipe her dry lips, her jaw clenching a little as she shook her head slightly.

"I don't feel weak if that's what you mean," she spoke determinedly. "You'll never make me feel less than."

"Well, I can help you, anyway," Valack insisted. "I can amplify your powers. Maybe then I can figure out what the Dread Doctors can't understand. When we see what confuses them so much, we're one step ahead to stopping them."

Harper spat, "I don't want your help."

Huffing, Valack moved back to his equipment and pulled out an electric razor. Harper blinked as he started it up, the droning noise burning inside her aching head.

"What are you doing with that?"

He moved closer to her head, making her shuffle back a little. Using one of his large hands, he forced her head to the side and pushed it down into the pillow. Harper gasped, feeling like she couldn't breathe with her mouth and nose shoved into the material. She calmed her quick breaths as she felt the cold blade touch the side of her head.

Her eyes scrunched shut as she felt the cool air hit her head. He shaved a neat square into the side of her head, making her whimper. As soon as he released her head, her hand went up to touch the patch. She forgot that she was tied down.

Valack reached under her head and pulled away locks of hair. Harper's lips parted at the sight, even though she knew what had happened as soon as the razor had been placed against her.

"It's a lot harder to drill through a head with hair in the way," he chuckled, simultaneously making Harper's blood run cold. "But first- it's time for a shower."

...

Getting out of bed had never felt so good to Harper. Hot water streamed down her back, caressing her skin on the way down to the drain by her feet. She peered down at her wrists, weakly holding her left one in her right hand. The bruises around them disgusted her. They were brown and red with hints of green, making her feel squeamish.

Closing her eyes, the brunette leaned her head against the tiled wall. She didn't care that the woman from before was watching her, in fact, Harper could barely feel her eyes on her back.

Thoughts of Stiles filled her brain. She had thought about him a lot over the past week that she had been here, enduring the torture her own father inflicted onto her. She found herself missing his hazel eyes and longing for his strong arms to wrap around her while his hands went to her hair, absentmindedly playing with it.

Her brain went fuzzy, feeling a lot like static on an old television. The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she could feel Stiles' presence. Fingertips touched her waist, his naked front pressed against her back as he peppered wet kisses down her neck.

Harper turned around, her hands moving up to reach around his neck. He smiled softly at her, his soaked hair sticking to forehead as he leaned down, connecting their lips. Her hands roamed his chest which was boiling from the water.

Stiles hates how hot Harper has her showers.

She snapped out of it at the thought, blinking when she realised she was still stood staring at the wall. Harper hadn't moved an inch, and Stiles still wasn't there.

I'm going insane, she thought to herself.

The next thing she knew, wet footsteps tapped beside her and the shower was being turned on. Harper hesitated before turning her eyes, seeing Lydia stood there.

It was just like the hallucination that she had had before Parrish turned up with her. Lydia's gaze remained locked on the wall in front of her, not even showing to notice the other teenage girl there.

"Lydia," Harper accidentally murmured, realising that this was the real her and not the version of her that Harper had seen yesterday.

Ignoring the fact that they were both naked, Harper reached out and touched her arm, hoping to get some sort of reaction out of her.

There was nothing.

"Harper!" Nurse Cross snapped from the doorway. "Not appropriate. Time's up. Get out of the shower now."

She raised one of the towels in her hands. Harper bit her lip, looking back at the strawberry blonde who remained in her comatose state. She turned her shower off and stepped out, wrapping her arms around her breasts as she moved over to the Eichen worker.

Nurse Cross gave her the towel and Harper quickly moved to dry herself off. Some clean clothes were handed to her. As she slipped them on, she glanced up at the woman with pleading eyes, hoping to feel some sort of remorse from her.

There was nothing.

Harper sure had been encountering a lot of people that held zero emotions lately.

"Please," Harper whispered, trying anyway. She would never forgive herself if she didn't at least try once. "You know what my dad is going to do with me. He's going to drill a hole into my head. I'm not going to survive that. You've gotta help me. Please, miss."

"Personally," Nurse Cross grabbed her arm, tugging her up from where she had been bent down, pulling up the jogging bottoms. "I'm a fan of your father's work, Ms Verum."

She glanced down the hall where Harper couldn't see. "Schrader, escort Harper back to her room, please."

Schrader, the male worker, appeared by Harper's side in almost an instant, smiling creepily down at her before grabbing a hold of her arm. He began to pull her down the familiar corridors, passing cells filled with other supernatural creatures.

Harper gulped as she was moved back into her room, finding it bare of her father. He guided her down onto the bed and she laid. A million and one ideas of escaping began to fill her brain, and just as Schrader began to grab the leather straps for her wrist, she whimpered.

He looked down at her, curious. "What's wrong?"

"My wrists," she whispered, holding up her bruised body parts. "I know you said not to, but I tugged. They hurt."

She acted sweet and soft- anything to get him on her side. Inside, however, she felt like throwing up. Especially as his eyes softened, another tut coming from his lips. He reached down, his fingers gently caressing the marks.

Harper exaggerated a hiss of pain, causing him to pull back with a wince. "It's not your fault," she insisted, "just, please, don't put them back on me yet. They ache so bad."

Much to her surprise, Schrader nodded quickly, dropping the leather straps. He sent her a smile, which she forced herself to return.

"I still have to take your blood," he sighed, frowning. "Your father needs an update."

Harper bit her lip and nodded, nestling back into the bed. She held her arm out for him, clearly taking him by surprise. He really thought she was cooperating. He held onto her arm with one hand and with the other grabbed a needle.

He slid it into her skin. At this point, Harper was used to all of the injections. Bruises ran up and down her arms, some on her neck and her stomach from the number of needles that she had been prodded with. It was too bad she didn't have healing abilities, because they stung like a bitch too.

Shrader drew her blood, her lips pursing at the sight of the crimson liquid. He sighed blissfully.

"Oh, Harper," he murmured, "you take the needle so well."

She mentally cringed, feeling sick to her stomach. She just smiled at him, nodding her head. He turned around and began to push the blood into a test tube, his back turned to her. Harper rose silently behind him, her brown eyes casting to another needle left by her bedside- filled with black liquid.

The physical form of pain, her father's words rang in her head.

Without thinking too much, she darted out and grabbed it before stabbing it straight into the back of his neck, pushing the black liquid inside. Shrader froze up, his hand reaching around and grabbing it out of his neck.

Smirking, Harper leaned forward and whispered against his ear, "you take that needle so well."

She watched as he fell forward, a cry escaping his lips as the pain started to kick in. He withered on the floor, his eyes scrunched shut. Harper needed to get out of here before Valack heard his cries of agony.

A sudden scream came from a few rooms down, making Harper's eyes widen.

"Lydia!" She yelled, running out of the open door.

She watched, stunned, as the strawberry blonde screamed again, her hands stuck out in the direction of an Eichen guard running at her. Sounds waves physically travelled in his direction, sending him straight to the ground. She reached down and grabbed the keycard out of his pocket. Lydia panted as she looked around at the bodies surrounding her before up at her best friend.

"Harper," she whimpered.

The brunette ran forwards, grabbing Lydia into a bone-crushing hug. Lydia held her back, her hand tangling with Harper's hair. Sniffles came from both girls, pure relief flooding their systems.

"You did it," Harper exclaimed, pulling back and wiping the tears under her eyes. "You did it, Lydia."

A buzz came from behind them, making their smiles fade. Valack had opened one of the doors, his face contorting into horror when he saw Harper stood up and out of her cell. Lydia grabbed Harper's wrist and ran in the opposite direction. Lydia used the keycard to get them through.

"The lift," Harper pointed.

Both girls climbed inside, pressing the button as quickly as they could. Valack was charging straight at them, yelling for other guards to go to the top. Just as Harper's father was about to reach the elevator, the doors slid closed.

"Oh, thank god," Lydia leaned back against the wall, releasing a shuddery breath. "Are you okay?"

"I think so," she nodded, "just a lot of bruises. And-" she moved her hair that had fallen in front of the bald spot. "You figured it out just in time. He was gonna drill a hole into my head, Lyds."

"I won't let him," she reached to grab the brunette's hand, squeezing it.

The elevator doors beeped and opened. Without hesitation, the two girls ran outside, making a mad dash for the exit. Thunder boomed from around them as soon as the doors peeled open, rain gushing down onto their bodies. Harper gasped from the cold water, running down the steps.

"Lydia," she called when she noticed the other teenage girl screaming at another man.

He stumbled to the ground just as more Eichen worker started running out of the building, stun guns in their hands.

"Go!" Lydia yelled, "get the gate open!"

Nodding quickly, Harper listened to the banshee scream, knocking down guards one by one. She made it to the keypad by the door, biting down on her lip. She had no idea what the pin could be to get out. She looked back to Lydia, about to call for help, when her eyes landed on a sign.

EICHEN HOUSE

ESTABLISHED 1912

'PROVIDING FOR THOSE WITHOUT HOPE'

Frantically, the brunette punched in the digits 1-9-1-2, realising that it was worth a shot. The gate buzzed and slid open, much to her delight. She turned around, finding Lydia running right at her. The strawberry blonde grinned a little, grabbing Harper's hand.

"Come on," Lydia breathed.

A buzz came from behind her and Harper felt her body convulse with electricity. She dropped to the ground, withering. Lydia gasped, stumbling back, which happened to be out of the gate.

"Run, Lydia, run!" Harper screeched a plea, "tell them! Tell St- Stiles. Get help!"

Lydia did what Harper said. She ran. Not only did she have to warn them that Harper was going to die, but she had to warn them that they were going to die, too.


	42. Chapter 42

"Okay, so there are four steps," Stiles told everyone as they surrounded a blueprint of Eichen House. "We get into Eichen, we get into the Closed Unit, we get Harps, we get out."

Lydia huffed, "are you forgetting all of the orderlies I told you about?" She folded her arms from where she was stood in between Malia and Isaac. "And the guards Valack set outside her door when I went to go get her."

Scott sighed. "No, we didn't forget. We also didn't forget the electronic door locks or the Mountain Ash barriers."

"You got a plan?" Isaac asked, raising his eyebrows as Scott and Lydia listed all of the things opposing them. "Sounds like we don't have a chance."

"Not helping. And Lydia stole this," Stiles lifted up a keycard, making the strawberry blonde smile proudly. "But it's useless, cause they reset the codes each night."

The banshee's smile dropped. She'll admit that she didn't know that.

"So how is it useful?" Kira, who had returned only yesterday asked as she shook her head.

"I'm getting to that," Stiles insisted, hating how much time they were having to waste by explaining everything.

He wanted Harper out of Eichen House, and he wanted her out now.

When Lydia came running into the animal clinic last night, sobbing about how Harper was trapped and about to get her head drilled into, the pack had all jumped into action. Stiles had known something was wrong with his girlfriend when she didn't say 'I love you' at the end of the phone calls they shared, or after a conversation via text message.

Everybody was devastated.

They knew the dangers of Harper being experimented on by Valack. They knew what had happened to her mother, and how Harry had been so scared of going back that he had betrayed the only family he had left. This was the last thing that Harper Verum deserved, and Deaton had informed them on how deathly it could be.

When her Empathic abilities were amplified, she would be able to feel everything going on around her- which could potentially cause her own death.

Stiles wasn't having that.

He needed to get her out as soon as possible.

"The only way to get Harper out of Eichen House is to get the key card working again," Scott explained to his girlfriend.

Liam frowned, "how are you gonna do that?"

"We're getting to that," Stiles snapped, frustrated, "just listen."

He turned the laptop on the table around so that everybody could see it.

"I pulled all of the history off of the key card. Two weeks ago, there was a brownout and the security system was rebooted. During a reboot, all of the key cards revert back to a default code. So, if we trigger a reboot..."

"The card goes back to default," Lydia realised, nodding quickly.

"It works again," Malia smiled a little at the thought of saving her friend.

Isaac folded his arms across his chest. "Okay, so how are we going to cause a brownout?"

"That's Kira's part," Scott said, turning to face the Kitsune. "You're going to draw power from the main line, but only enough to cause a brownout."

Stiles nodded. "Not a blackout," he clarified. "Do that and you would send Eichen into a lockdown which would be bad. Very, very bad."

To be truthful, Stiles was worried Kira was going to mess up. If she went even the slightest bit too far, Valack would realise that they were there for Harper and god knows what he would do. The thought sent shivers down his spine and made his hands slightly clammy.

"There's an electrical room behind the reception counter," Lydia pointed at the blueprints. "The main powerline goes into two breakers that run power to all of Eichen."

Kira chuckled nervously. "Okay, slight problem, I don't know how to do that."

"That's okay, you have time to practise," Scott reassured her.

Malia raised her brows. "Let's say all of this goes perfectly. How does a brownout get us into the Closed Unit of Eichen House?"

Everybody turned to face Stiles who already had the answer.

"The system takes five minutes to reboot," the Stilinski boy explained. "In those five minutes, all the alarms will be turned off and the key card should work."

"Liam. You, Isaac and I get Stiles to the gate of the Closed Unit. But after that, he has to go on his own. We can't go past the Mountain Ash barrier. Stiles gets Harper. Then, when we're gone, all anyone's going to think is that there was a reboot of the security system caused by the brownout," Scott summarised, "Lydia and Malia help Kira."

"Any questions?" Stiles glared around the group, making sure that nobody bailed on Harper.

"How do we get into Eichen House in the first place?"

"What's our worst-case scenario?"

"What if I can't do it?"

"What do we do about her dad to make sure he doesn't try this again?"

Stiles huffed, cutting them off. "Okay, admittedly, a lot could go wrong."

"Everything could go wrong," Isaac corrected.

"Again with the not helping!" Stiles spat.

"Guys, if we don't do this, we lose Harper. She's going to die in there tonight," Scott shook his head, a lump in his throat as he spoke about the girl that was practically his own sister.

Stiles licked his bottom lip. "And I'd rather die trying than live with thinking I didn't even attempt to help her."

Everybody nodded, knowing Harper would do the same for every single one of them too.

...

"The stiller you are, the less it will hurt, Harper," she heard her father say, but she couldn't move her head, "anaesthetic will not be necessary. You'll find that it won't hurt you as much as it would a human being... once's it's over."

Harper heard the drill startup from across the room and she began to cry. Tears spilt down her cheeks, her heart beating uncontrollably.

"Please, dad. Don't do this," she sobbed as he began to come closer with the tool. "You're going to kill me. I'm going to die."

Valack simply shook his head. "Harper, it's been six years since I last carried out this experiment. Of course, it didn't go well the first time so I had to cover it up, but I've been practising."

"Practising?" She shuddered.

He nodded, "yes. On other supernatural creatures. I find it amplifies their abilities, makes them stronger and smarter."

Harper didn't know what else to say. She whimpered, tugging against the leather straps as she heard him pick up the drill and come closer to her.

"Please," she begged again, unable to turn and see him from the restraints her head was currently in. "Please don't do this. I know you're scared of them. You're scared of the Dread Doctors, and if it's protection you need, I know people. You don't have to do this."

Valack scoffed, shaking his head. "This isn't only about them anymore. I've become infatuated by the Empath. My own daughter is the last of them, too. I would be... I would be more than insane not to do this."

She didn't get another word in before she felt a sharp piece of metal on the side of her head.

"No, no!"

Harper screamed in utter agony as it twisted, drilling through her head. It went slowly, her father being careful not to go too far. Her stomach turned, threatening to release the little contents it had inside as she felt the cool air against the new wound. Blood was spilling out onto the pillow, sweat mixing with it as she breathed heavily.

"No, no, no, no, no!" Harper cried, scrunching her fists up. "Please!"

"It's over now," he spoke, grinning as he stepped back, the bloody drill turning to a halt. "Wasn't too hard, was it?"

Harper was still shaking, her face screwing up as the hole in the side of her head caused immense pain. It felt like she was having a hundred migraines at once. The rest of her body felt weak too, but nothing like her head. Never in her seventeen years of being alive had she experienced anything close to this.

"Now," Valack started to take apart the restraints on her head, "I'll be back later. For the final experiment."

...

Stiles moved around the corner of one of the corridors, his heart stopping when he saw a couple of workers by the doors. He flinched, jumping back and into Isaac. The werewolf rolled his eyes, holding onto Stiles' arms to stop him backing up any further.

"What are they doing there?" Scott whispered, horrified.

They did not just break into the mental asylum in morgue bags, courtesy of Parrish, to get stopped by a couple of Eichen workers staying behind. No way in hell.

"I don't know," Stiles muttered, "their round should have ended five minutes ago."

Liam peered around the corner, pursing his lips at the two men who were simply just talking. They looked a little taller than him, but they were slim and fairly old. Maybe in their early fifties.

Upon sizing them up, the beta turned to the others. "I can take them," he insisted.

Scott sighed, "no one's taking anyone."

"How much time?" Stiles hissed, making Scott look down at his phone.

"Three minutes," the alpha replied anxiously.

"Liam's right," Isaac found himself nodding. "We knock them out and hide their bodies. Simple."

Scott shot the two betas a look that explained he wasn't pleased with their mentality. They'd promised to break in, get Harper and leave without hurting as many people as possible. Although, Scott did know that if it came down for it, he would hurt them to save his sister.

Stiles pursed his lips. "Maybe-"

A bang on the glass in front of them caused the four teenage boys to jump out of impulse. An Asian boy, probably only fifteen, stood there, his hands on the glass as he stared at them desperately.

"Did you see the doctor?" He asked.

"What?" Liam hissed, frowning.

"Did you take the doctor?" The boy questioned. "I haven't had my medication. I need ten milligrams at 8 A.M, fifteen milligrams at 1 P.M, and no more than twenty at dinner."

Scott tried to get him to shut up. "We'll get the doctor."

"Doctor Fenris," the boy nodded, his suddenly began to sob, slamming back down on the glass. "They took Doctor Fenris! I haven't had my medication and I need to see the doctor! They took Doctor Fenris!"

Stiles gritted his teeth, "somebody shut him up!"

He continued to bang on the glass, sobbing. The doctors started walking over, causing Stiles to look at Scott frantically. The Alpha said nothing but grunted, his face shifting into werewolf form. His eyes glowed red and he growled, making the boy jolt back and stare at them in silence.

Stiles peered back around the corner, sighing in relief when he saw the guards move down another hallway, ignoring the frantic boy. Once the door closed behind them, Stiles rushed out into the corridor, speed walking towards the door.

Suddenly, the lights made a buzzing noise and brightened.

"She did it," Scott smiled proudly, "Kira did it."

"Five minutes to get Harper," Liam breathed nervously.

Stiles went to put the key card into the door but frowned. He looked back at his friends, hazel eyes frantically darting between the three.

"Where's the card reader?" He blurted, making Scott's smile drop. "It should be here, it has to be here."

Isaac swallowed thickly. "The must have taken it out when the Dread Doctors got through."

Stiles' heart stopped in his chest and he felt the panic rising. He gripped hold of the card in his hand tighter, shaking his head. Now was not the time to be having a panic attack. Not when they had come so close to getting Harper- who could be about to die.

"We don't need a key," Liam shook his head, "not if we can break it down."

Stiles nodded quickly, taking a step back as Scott, Isaac and Liam fed their fingers through the fenced door and started to pull as hard as they physically could. They groaned and grunted, scrunching their eyes shut as they tried will all their might.

But it wouldn't budge.

"Guys, we're running out of time here," Stiles stressed, running a hand through his hair.

They panted as they let go. "We can't," Isaac shook his head regretfully.

"The Mountain Ash is too much," Scott agreed.

Liam went silent before he turned to the Alpha. "Hit me."

"What?" Scott breathed, staring at him in confusion.

"Hit me," he repeated. "I'll get angry and I'll get stronger."

"Hit him!" Stiles insisted, "hit him!"

Maybe he was being selfish, but all he could think about right now was his girlfriend. The love of his entire life. Being without Harper for the past week or so had been utterly painful to him. The fact that they had left things on a bad note made everything ten times worse too.

When he wasn't sat by his father's hospital bed or helping with the Beast (while trying to ignore Scott), Stiles was thinking about Harper. He always wondered what she was doing, or whether she had trouble sleeping at night like him.

Now he felt guilty for wondering if her biggest problem was him. He wasn't supernatural, but Stiles felt awful for not sensing that something was wrong with Harper.

However, now, knowing that he was under the same roof as his girlfriend, Stiles felt hopeful. It was a chance to save her and redeem himself, he needed to make things right. He had to make sure that she was okay- even if it was the last thing he did.

"I tried to take your powers," Liam added when he saw Scott's hesitation. "I tried to kill you. Hit me."

"He also left you for dead," Stiles cut in, Isaac nodding along.

"I wanted you dead!" The beta gritted his teeth before getting cut off by a thump to the face. He groaned loudly as he bent over. "Do it again."

Scott obeyed.

"It's gotta be harder than that," Isaac spoke, "like this."

He punched Liam, as revenge for hurting Scott- his closest friend. Liam yelled out in agony, his breathing heavy as fury grew inside him. Scott added another punch, letting Liam heave by the door.

"You angry?" The alpha growled, baring his own teeth when Liam nodded. "Let's do this."

The three darted for the door and tried again, grunting as they pushed and pushed and pushed. It came down. Stiles' hands went to his head, relief coursing through his veins. He was one step closer to Harper now.

"Stiles, go!" Scott yelled. "Two minutes!"

His voice was like a blur to the teenage boy who had already taken off running. He used his key card to get into another door, his hands gripping every doorway he chucked himself through, his hazel eyes frantically searching for the girl he hadn't stopped thinking about.

Stiles bounded through a door, his heart stopping in his chest as his eyes laid on her.

Harper Verum.

Harper's eyes darted up to meet his, shining with tears.

"Stiles?" Harper whimpered.

He let out a shaky breath, his eyes wide and his lips parted as he dove to kneel down by her head. Blood soaked the pillow beside it, her hair went and sweat clinging to her usually-tan skin. Now it was as pale as the material beneath her.

Both their hearts were pounding as his fingers shakily moved to part her dark hair, finding the hole in her head. He swallowed thickly, a tear rolling down his cheek as he looked back up at Harper. She was watching him, her bottom lip trembling.

"Is this real?" She whispered. It sure felt like it to her, but this could be just another sick trick being pulled by her father himself.

Stiles was breathing heavily. "It's real," his voice raised accidentally from all of the built-up emotions he had inside him- relief, anger towards Valack, sadness, excitement. It was like a melting pot of feelings. "This is real. I'm here."

"No," she whimpered, causing Stiles' heartstrings to tug painfully. "No, stop pretending. This is the final part isn't it?"

"Harper, baby, I have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm getting you out of here, okay?" Stiles promised her, his hazel eyes burning with so much sincerity that Harper realised this couldn't be her psychopath of a father.

He struggled for the leather straps around her wrists, his trembling fingers getting the clasps undone. His eyes cast down on the bruising around her wrist, his jaw clenching.

"Stiles, he's gonna come back," her voice was weak but frantic- something Stiles didn't think he had ever heard from her before. "My dad. Valack. He's gonna come back."

"Harper, I'm not leaving you here," he gritted his teeth, still trying on the first strap. "I can't do it. I can't."

A door buzzing cut him off and he noticed how much Harper flinched. She was terrified, and he didn't even need to be an Empath to know it.

"Sti, please," Harper cried out, her fingers desperately reaching around to touch his. Their skin touching felt like fire, and they never wanted to it to end. "Hide, please."

Stiles hesitated, leaning down and pressing his lips against hers. She kissed back weakly, his heart hammering in her chest as he gently squeezed her shoulder.

"I'm not leaving you," he whispered, "I'll be right behind you. I promise."

Another buzz came, indicating that Valack was getting closer.

"Go," Harper whispered, a tear falling, "go."

He wiped the tear before rushing out of the room, hiding in the corner of a door and out of Valack's sight. Harper involuntarily whimpered as her father strolled in, reaching down for some cotton. He dabbed the wound in her head with it, causing her to cry out a little.

"Why did you do that?" She sniffled.

"Now I'll have insight," he grinned. "I don't think you know how successful this has been, Harper. Your mother... She didn't make it past this stage. You're a miracle."

"You're a murderer," Harper replied shortly, shuddering as he moved the cotton away from the hole in her head.

A buzz came from one of the doors, making her flinch again. Harper prayed that Stiles hadn't come back straight away, for she knew he had been listening. Instead, Theo came around the corner and, much to her surprise, with Tracy, Corey and Josh.

They were supposed to be dead.

She guessed a lot had happened while she had been locked in here for the past week.

Tracy grabbed her father, pulling her away and throwing him up against the wall in the hallway. She had her hand wrapped around his neck.

"Now," Valack chuckled dryly, looking behind her at Theo. "What would a group of Chimeras want with an Empath?"

"Not an Empath," Theo shook his head, glaring. "A Hellhound. We know he's here."

Suddenly, Parrish appeared on the other side of the door. But he was on fire. He grabbed it, bending the metal so that it melted and curved down in his grip and dropped the floor, clattering. Lydia stood behind him, her green eyes horrified.

"You wanted a Hellhound?" Valack smirked. "I think you found one."


	43. Chapter 43

Stiles watched as Parrish began making his way down the hall, growling at the Chimeras and Dr Valack who were stood staring. Theo rushed into Harper's room and came back out with her, his nails digging into her neck. Harper gasped slightly, feeling the blood start to trickle down her skin.

The Stilinski boy tensed, anger pooling in his stomach. His jaw clenched. Parrish had little to no connection with Harper, so Theo holding her 'hostage' wouldn't stop him from attacking them. Theo should know that.

"Take him," Theo ordered his pack, his face scrunched up furiously.

"The guy's on fire!" Corey disclaimed nervously.

"Do it," he ordered.

Stiles didn't watch as Tracy and Josh ran up to Parrish. They stood no chance when he was in his Hellhound form.

Stiles' eyes were concentrated on Harper in Theo's grip, and he found himself standing up. Maybe he was crazy, but he wasn't going to sit around and watch Harper get hurt.

"Theo, this isn't working!" Josh yelled, just as Valack crawled over to the Theo, drilling a hole into his leg.

Theo released Harper, screaming in pain. The brunette girl fell forward, landing on her hands and knees as she breathed heavily. Valack climbed up to slam the tool against Theo's face, knocking him out.

"Sorry, Theo," Valack sneered, "but I'm not done with my daughter just yet."

Valack grabbed Harper by the arms, hauling her off of the floor. She winced in pain, her head aching as she was whirled around. Her father's face dropped when he came face to face with Stiles.

"Sti," she whispered, her voice breaking.

Her boyfriend reached for her just as Parrish chucked Corey. The Chimera went flying like a ball of fire, but Valack ducked out of the way just in time, Harper tucked under his arms. Harper watched helplessly as Stiles crashed to the ground, struggling to push Corey off.

Valack picked her up like she was still a child, rushing past Stiles who was thrashing on the ground. She mouthed his name, but all of the yelling was making her head sting. Her father stormed through a door, slamming it just as Stiles arrived.

Looking past his shoulder, Harper saw the outline of Stiles' hand as it frantically smacked against the gap of glass.

"Harper!" Stiles screamed desperately, banging his entire body against the door over and over again. "No, Harper! Hey! Harper!" The door rattled but didn't budge. "Harper!"

"Stiles," she sobbed, her hand reaching out towards the door as if she could do something.

She was already way too far away.

His screams made her heart shatter in her chest and she felt the bile rise in her throat. The banging on the door didn't stop, at least, not until she was long gone.

...

He'd left her alone in a room with nothing.

Maybe that's why she felt like she was going insane, or maybe it was because he had drilled a freaking hole in her head. Harper held said body part, tears streaming down her face as she cried. It felt like it weighed a ton, so she slipped to the floor, scrunching her eyes shut.

The sensation was excruciating.

It was like every Empathic feeling she had ever had in the past two years rolled into one. Everything hurt.

Everything.

Valack told her that he would be back with some equipment to speed the process up. Harper still wasn't entirely sure what he was after, but she did know that everything lead back to the Dread Doctors and his interest in Empaths.

"She doesn't have much time," she heard Meredith say. "She's being consumed by her own power. Doctor Valack thinks it's worth it if she can save him."

Harper slowly raised her head from the ground, slitted eyes looking for the girl.

"Save him from what?" Scott. Oh god had she missed Scott.

His voice echoed and she realised they weren't nearby. Somehow she could still hear them though.

"The Dread Doctors," Meredith replied, "they despise him. Valack had children with women with the intent of creating more Empaths because they're the only creature Dread Doctors can't create. They don't just misunderstand them- they're scared of them."

"So what? He wants to become one?"

"No. He's figuring out how to make a Chimera part Empath for them. He's using her as a sacrifice for his own safety."

"So how do I get past the Mountain Ash? How can I save her?"

"You can't. But Lydia can. They're connected when they dream. Find the other Banshee, she'll find the Empath."

A searing pain shot through her head, so bad that she started to heave. Her body lurched, her stomach muscles contracting as she placed her hand on the wall, trying to climb up.

Suddenly, her entire body cramped up and she fell backwards, releasing a scream that would make a banshee jealous.

She just hoped one of her friends had heard her.

...

The brunette came to when she felt wet cotton being dabbed against the hole on the side of her head. Harper winced, moving her head from where it had been lolled back uncomfortably. She realised that she was raised off of the ground in a chair, her wrists and ankles strapped down. It wasn't like she could try and escape anyway- she was in too much pain.

"Just hang on a little longer, Harper," a familiar English accent cooed, "I think I'm finally starting to make a breakthrough."

Harper whimpered as her dad came into focus, taking away the cotton wool to write something down in his notepad. He grabbed something off of the messy desk to his side. He held up another needle, making her shake her head and release a dry sob.

"No more," she begged. "Please, no more."

He moved over to the wound in her head, placing the needle there. She gasped in sickening pain as she felt him take something away from her. When he pulled back, her blood was silver.

Mercury.

A grin broke through on his face, "I did it."

She had never in her entire seventeen years of living seen her dad so happy.

"I did it!" Valack cried again, "I did it!"

Harper began to cry. She felt so unloved and violated by her own father, and she felt like she was dying. Despite all of the torture she had been through, Harper wasn't ready to go yet. She still had a life to live with Stiles and the rest of the pack.

However, she knew she was dying as the mercury substance continued to drip down the side of her head, hitting the chair she was strapped to. It was inevitable.

"Don't look at me like that," the older man ordered, "I'm finally going to get the Dread Doctors off of my back. Twenty-five years, Harper. It failed with your mother, it failed with Harry, but I knew it would work with you the minute you were born. And it did. Everybody thought I was insane."

"You are," Harper managed to spit weakly. "If the Dread Doctors don't end up killing you, my friends will."

Valack just chuckled and shook his head. He turned around and picked something up off of the floor. It was a Dread Doctor's mask, one eye cracked. Harper shuddered at the sight, pushing herself as far as she could back into her seat.

"I just need to extract it from you now," he spoke, not missing the way her eyes flashed with cold fear. "Oh, you're going to die anyway. Your blood is changing and your human side won't be able to handle it for much longer."

Harper whimpered as he began to attach wires to the side of her head.

"You need to relax," her father instructed.

Suddenly, a bang came from the other side of the door, making her heart skip a beat. The monitor that was tracking her heartbeat from beside her began to pick up dramatically, her eyes widening in shock. She thought that was it.

"Harper!" She heard Stiles yell, a sob of relief escaping her parted lips. "Harper! Connect to me! Connect to me, okay? Just do it!"

Harper didn't question him, she obeyed. It took all of the force that she could muster, and she felt extremely weak as soon as she felt her system shift to match Stiles'.

"I'm sorry, Harper," Valack spoke quickly, lifting up the mask. "Time's up."

Suddenly, the door burst down and somebody screamed. Harper knew that it was Lydia as soon as she heard it- or rather felt it. The pain in her head intensified by about a hundred, and as soon as the scream stopped, she was left with a rattling in her ears.

She couldn't hold onto her connection with Stiles any longer- it dropped. She realised why he had told her to do so, too.

As the mask fell from Valack's hand, Harper was left staring at what was left of her father's head. It had been blown in half, most likely due to the intensity of Lydia's scream. If Harper hadn't of connected to her boyfriend in time, she guessed that would have been her too.

A horrified cry fell from her lips as she watched the man she had grown up loving drop to the ground, his body landing with a sickening thump. She fell back against the seat, her ears streaming with blood- or, well, mercury.

Her brown eyes were frozen on the crumpled skull of her dad, completely and utterly disgusted. Harper felt a mixture of things— relief, grief for the man she used to know, physical pain, exhaustion....

"Harper, oh my god," Lydia was crying next to her within seconds.

The door burst back once Stiles dictated it safe for him not to get his own head blown off, his hands throwing himself off of the walls as he ran faster than he ever had before to his girlfriend.

Harper lifted her eyes from the dead body of her last family member, barely open as she watched him, the trace of a smile on her lips.

He cupped her cheeks with his large hands, trying to ignore the fact that they were trembling like crazy. She swallowed, coughing when she felt mercury slide up her throat and stain her paled lips. Stiles' heartbeat quickened at the sight.

"We're getting you out of here, okay?" He promised, "oh god, Harper."

Lydia detached the straps around her wrists, so Harper reached up, her fingers touching Stiles' lips.

"You're real," she confirmed to herself, her eyes almost closing. "I love you."

"I love you too," he rushed in a panic, "but Harper, you can't close your eyes, all right? We need to get you to Deaton."

Harper nodded, straining to keep her eyes open as Lydia finally released her ankles. Stiles picked her up bridal style within seconds, her hands weakly clinging onto his plaid shirt as he carried her out of the room, running as fast as his legs would take him.

They met up with Scott, Isaac, Liam and Parrish, all of whom looked relieved to see Harper. She smiled the best she could at the Alpha but immediately winced when she felt the wound in her head grow worse. She was going to die just like her mother did- she could feel it.

"God, Harper," Scott frowned, moving forward and brushing some of her wet hair off of her forehead.

"We don't have much time," Isaac stated the obvious, blue eyes glancing between Harper's nearly lifeless form and Scott and Stiles.

"This way," Liam panted, running off.

"Liam, slow down!" Scott cried as they chased after him.

Of course, the beta ignored them until he reached a gate. Sparks flew up his hands as soon as he touched it, however, the young teenager ignored the pain and grunted as he pulled them apart. He smiled proudly as he looked back at the group of friends.

"Told you!" He bragged before running off.

They made it to the end of a tunnel where a ladder lead upwards. Isaac helped Stiles get Harper safely up. They made it onto the road, right outside Eichen House. Harper nestled her head into Stiles' chest, a shaky breath falling past her lips as she felt everybody's relief fill her.

Normally, Stiles' hands would be running through her locks, but due to the hole in her head, they remained tight around her body. She had an arm over his shoulder as he caressed circles against her cold, pale skin.

Suddenly, the jeep pulled up right in front of them, making Scott quickly jump out of the road and onto the pavement. Malia and Kira immediately climbed out, moving around to greet them. The werecoyote looked down at Harper, frowning in concern.

"Is Harper okay?" Malia stressed.

"No," Scott breathed, "we need to go. Give me the keys. We gotta get her to the clinic."


	44. Chapter 44

"You can't even see the shaved patch," Lydia reassured Harper as she finished making soft curls in the brunette's thick hair, "you look beautiful, Harps."

Harper looked up at the strawberry blonde who stood behind her in the vanity mirror, a soft smile crossing her face. Lydia patted Harper's shoulders, sending one back.

Just as she was switching off the curling wand, a figure moved into the doorframe. Stiles leaned against it, proudly watching as Harper attempted to get back to normal only a couple of days after everything had happened.

Everybody knew to give her a little space. She'd just been through the most traumatic experience of her life and watched her own father's head get blown to pieces. Despite despising the man, it was like the child inside her was upset about it- the part of her that had good memories with him. The bigger half of her, however, saw it as a relief.

Now that she had physically watched him die, there was no way in hell he was coming back. Her family couldn't hurt her anymore, because now she really didn't have any left. But during her couple of days of just sitting in bed, she'd come to realise that blood-family truly was overrated anyway.

Other than Rose and her mother, none of her other family would have gone through the trouble that her friends did to save her. They put everything on the line for her and so she was going to be forever grateful.

Stiles knocked lightly on the bedroom door, despite it being open. Harper and Lydia both turned, Lydia sending him a nod and a smile before leaving the room. The Stilinski boy shut the door behind her and walked over to stand behind Harper, ducking down and wrapping his arms around her body loosely.

"I have the most beautiful girlfriend in the world," he announced, leaning to kiss her neck.

Harper blushed, looking down at the table. He noticed that she had been a little quieter than before, but Melissa said that was common with people that had gone through traumatic things. Hopefully, she'd be back to herself soon, but until then nobody was rushing her.

They'd told her about what had happened while she was gone, giving her the brief story of the Beast that was currently terrorising Beacon Hills. The pack agreed not to overwhelm her too much. Even if her head had healed from the medication Deaton had given her, she was still emotionally scarred.

Harper knew that the Beast was another Chimera, created by the Dread Doctors and based on 'history's most vicious, most famous werewolf'. They had no clue who the teenager behind it was, and Scott had said that he thought the teenager didn't know it was them either. It'd killed many people and was only getting worse.

Standing up from the desk, Harper turned and wrapped her arms around his torso, leaning her head onto his chest. Stiles grinned, dropping his chin onto the top of her head while he rubbed circles on her arms.

"Are you ready for school?" He asked softly.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Harper sighed, sending him a grateful smile as she picked up her denim jacket from the back of her chair.

As she slipped it on, Stiles moved to wrap his arm around her waist, practically glueing her to his side- not that she was complaining.

...

"Mason said it's not just a transmitted frequency," Liam explained from where he sat at the library table. "It's high-powered. Like it has to be a really strong signal."

Lydia frowned, "and that's causing it to shift?"

Of course, they were referring to the Beast- in fact, that was the only thing that they had been talking about all day. Harper was totally confused in places, having missed out on it all, so she kind of just hung around in the background and added comments or questions every now and then. She didn't really feel like talking most of the time anyway.

Now, Harper, Stiles, Scott, Lydia, Isaac and Liam all sat crowded around a table in the corner of the library. They were supposed to be studying, but they had more important things to worry about right now.

"Actually, I don't think it's just that," Scott admitted as he stood over the table, his hands resting on the back of an empty chair. "Last night Argent said that it's getting smarter. What if the Dread Doctors are trying to make the Beast grow faster?"

"With frequencies?" Stiles asked.

"No, by shifting."

Harper furrowed her brows. "So, like, the frequency triggers the Beast to shift, which makes it smarter every time it does it?"

Scott nodded. "Exactly. The important part is when it shifts into the werewolf."

"Like Peter," Isaac noted.

"Right," the McCall boy agreed, "when Peter was an alpha, he got stronger every full moon. Eventually, the burns healed and he went back to normal."

Liam's face brightened with recognition. "So the Dread Doctors don't want to wait for the full moon."

"They want the Beast to be as strong as possible, as fast as possible," Scott confirmed.

"Because of Parrish," Lydia sighed.

Harper crinkled her nose. "Wait, so if this is happening tonight, what are we going to do?"

"Oh, we've got one clue to go on," Stiles sighed from beside her, reaching into his backpack and pulling out a laminated photograph. "This came from the hospital. Whoever's lurking inside the Beast is wearing a size ten of indeterminate make."

The Empath stared at the photo of a bloody footprint with a tape measure beside it. It wasn't an animal's footprint though, it was the shoe of a human's. Most likely a male, considering how big it is.

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "Indeterminate?"

"Means it's a partial print," Stiles explained quickly, "basically, it was all we were able to get considering all of the fire, blood and carnage."

"How many size tens are out there?" Isaac asked.

"Only one with Parrish's blood on the sole," replied the hazel-eyed boy.

Harper had noticed a subtle change between the two boys. Stiles and Isaac no longer constantly bickered like they had been doing for the past couple of years, it was like after them both hating Theo and Isaac helping to save Harper from Eichen, Stiles and Isaac had learned that each other were more alike than they thought.

"So are we gonna try and get the game cancelled?" Liam asked hopefully, not sounding to fond of a Beast coming to attack the game being broadcasted on the local news tonight.

Stiles shook his head, "no, no, we're going to play, but we're just going to hope really hard that it doesn't turn into a blood-soaked massacre."

There was a small silence. Lydia looked at Stiles as if he was the most stupid person she had ever met but Harper scoffed, shaking her head. When he looked at her, her face dropped.

"Oh, I thought you were being sarcastic," Harper muttered.

As everybody began to rise to leave, Isaac shook his head. "Aren't we missing out on a chance to catch this thing? We don't have the 'who', but we have the 'where' and the 'when'."

The rest of the pack looked impressed with Isaac, looking to Scott to see his reaction. The alpha was clearly hesitating about the whole thing, his tan face scrunching up.

"There's too many people," he said.

"And we still don't know if it's actually going to happen," Lydia spoke hopefully, "it might just end up being a regular lacrosse game. That's possible, right?"

"Mhm," Harper murmured, "but maybe not in Beacon Hills."

Stiles jabbed his thumb in her direction, nodding in agreement.

"So, we're getting the game cancelled?" Liam repeated.

"We're getting the game cancelled," Scott confirmed.

...

Sheriff Stilinski glanced up from all of the paperwork on his desk, releasing a stressed sigh when he saw his son stood in the doorway. Stiles smiled sheepishly at his dad, moving into his office and revealing the brunette behind him, making Noah genuinely smile.

"Harper," he stood up, walking from out behind his desk to give the girl a quick hug. "I'm glad you're doing better."

The brunette smiled back up at him, "yeah, me too. Thanks, Noah."

"So," he sighed, leaning back against his desk, "why do I have the pleasure of my son and his girlfriend coming to visit me while they should be in class?"

"We need you to cancel tonight's game," Stiles announced, "we have reason to believe that the Beast's gonna show up and attack everyone- and it's gonna be bad, dad. Very, very bad."

Exhaling loudly, his father picked his keys out of his coffee mug and began to head towards the door. Stiles opened it for him and the couple followed him out.

"I'm not sure I actually have that authority," Noah disclaimed.

Stiles' face scrunched up. "You're the county Sheriff, you can't cancel a high school lacrosse game?" He asked incredulously.

"It's a charity game, which generates tens of thousands of dollars," the older man reminded them, making Harper purse her lips. He was right. "I would have to go to the school board with evidence of a credible threat."

Stiles jumped, "oo, a giant werewolf might rampage across the field killing people. That's an incredible threat!"

"Look, we're gonna have a presence at the game already. I'll double it, I'll triple it."

Harper scoffed, "you might wanna quadruple it."

"Octuple it!" Stiles added.

Noah suddenly turned to face them, his brows furrowed. "There's always a person who could forfeit the game... The Coach."

"Not when you're stuck with a substitute who's strictly by the book," his son deadpanned.

"What about Finstock?"

Harper sighed, "he's been in rehabilitation for the past seven months since he started drinking again."

"Maybe it's time to check on his progress."

...

Operation get the game cancelled was a go.

After picking Scott up back from the school, the trio drove in the jeep to Stepping Stones, a rehabilitation centre set up on the edge of Beacon Hills. Once they had climbed out, the two teenage boys pressed their faces up against the glass, peering in.

"See him?" Harper asked.

"That's him," Scott pointed through the glass.

On a couch, sprawled out so you could only see the top of his head, was Coach Finstock. Stiles released a few words of disbelief before they opened the door and walked into the reception area. They all moved around to face him, Harper's mouth parting a little when she saw him up close.

Finstock was a mess.

His eyes were trained on the ceiling above him and he was wearing only a pyjama top, some long boxers and a dark dressing gown. Harper actually felt uncomfortable seeing him like it.

"Hey, Coach, it's Scott, Harper and Stiles," Scott greeted, the three all sitting on the couch next to him.

He didn't move so Stiles waved his hand in front of his face. "Coach, you're in rehab, you didn't have a lobotomy," Stiles scoffed.

"Coach?" Harper tried softly.

Nothing.

Stiles moved his arm towards the chess board resting on the coffee table in front of them. Just as he went to touch a piece, Coach's arm snapped out and grabbed Stiles by the wrist, making Harper flinch. Sudden movements had been making her do that a lot the past couple of days.

"Don't you dare touch it," Coach Finstock raised his head to glare at the teenage boy. "I have Nurse Gonzalez by the balls of the last three moves," he chuckled as he sat up, "and she knows it."

"Let it go," Stiles muttered, rolling his eyes, "you're checking out of this place right now."

Coach hushed him. "Not a chance."

"Okay, Coach, we know you're fine-" Scott got cut off by Coach shushing them loudly, waving his hands around.

"I have a debilitating disease," he claimed, using his hand to motion chugging a bottle, "it's called 'I'm not going to take another arrow to my stomach phobia'. Look it up."

Harper sighed, "Coach, nobody's gonna shoot another arrow at you. In fact, the lacrosse team actually need you right now."

Scott nodded in agreement, "yeah, we need you to coach the charity game."

Coach laughed loudly, "charity? Not a chance."

Stiles looked around at the clean facility, raising his brows. "How exactly have you been conning them into letting you stay here?"

"I uh... I have relapses," Finstock didn't even bother to try and sound honest, "it's... it's serious. I've had seven of them."

Harper tilted her head, "hm. So once every month for the past seven?"

"Yeah, you see, uh, every time they're just about to discharge me," he clicked his tongue, "I relapse."

"No one's noticed that pattern?" Stiles huffed.

"I have phenomenal health insurance. So why don't you three get the hell out of here. I hate charity games. They're meaningless!"

The three teenagers exchanged glances of disbelief. "I don't think the charities would agree," Stiles frowned.

"What's if for this year?"

"Cancer," Harper replied bluntly.

"For or against?"

"Against!" Stiles cried, "Coach, deeply against."

"Yeah, well I'm deeply not interested," the man replied before shooting his thumbs back towards the door and whistling, gesturing for them to leave him alone.

Scott pleaded, "Coach, we need you."

"I will never coach there again," he shook his head.

"Well, that's okay cause we don't actually need you to coach the game," Stiles shrugged.

Harper pursed her lips together into a thin line. "We just need you to forfeit it."

Coach blinked.

...

"Mason, you know your part," Scott spoke firmly as he walked around the empty Biology classroom, suited up in his lacrosse gear.

The dark-skinned boy nodded back. "Corey, Harper and I break into the Devenford bus and search their shoes."

"I take out the TV vans," Malia added.

"Right before the whistle blows, Coach forfeits the game," Stiles continued

Liam finished, "the rest of us are looking for a size ten with a bloody sole."

Somehow, they had managed to convince Coach to play his part. They had sorted out a plan that, if done correctly, should mean the Beast doesn't attack tonight. Doubt still continued to play through Harper's mind though, like something she couldn't shut off. Maybe it was the more anxious, jittery side of her that seemed to have intensified since the whole mess at Eichen House, but she couldn't ignore it.

"What if it doesn't work?" The brunette glanced at Scott. "What are we gonna do then?"

Isaac nodded in agreement, "yeah, and Scott's still healing from what Theo did to him. That means you won't exactly be at your best tonight if the Beast attacked."

"No, he's not," Kira shook her head.

Everybody turned to Scott for confirmation, frowning since he hadn't told anyone. Harper hadn't even thought about it, to be honest. She'd just assumed that he had healed soon after while she was gone.

"She's right," the werewolf stated before lifting up his burgundy jersey, revealing nothing but smooth skin. "It happened the night we got Harper out of Eichen House. I healed. When we were all together again when we were all a pack."

The Empath hadn't even noticed how close everyone had been since she had come back. She'd seemed to have forgotten all about how they had fallen apart before Eichen, but now they were as thick as thieves again. Malia and Isaac still weren't on good terms, but at least now they could tolerate being in the same room as each other again.

"The Beast doesn't have a pack," Isaac hummed, realising that maybe that was their advantage.

"Not like us," the Alpha smiled proudly, looking around at his friends sitting on tables and chairs in the middle of the empty classroom. "We can do this, guys. No one dies tonight."

...

"Why do I hear cheering?" Harper pursed her lips from where she stood in the car park with Mason and Corey.

Sure enough, echoes of whistles and cheering came from over the field where the game was supposed to be being forfeited. Mason also exchanged a nervous glance with her, rubbing his hands together in the cold. Corey was at the door of the bus, trying to pry it open with his Chimera strength.

"Hey, let's try and do this quietly, okay-" Mason was cut off by Corey finally getting the door off, creating a screeching noise that made all three of them wince. "Oh, come on."

They rushed onto the bus, Harper reaching up on her toes to grab one of the duffel bags from the storage compartments above the seats. She unzipped it, producing a pair of shoes.

"No blood," she muttered.

"You see a name on the bag?" Mason asked.

Harper rummaged around the edge of it, pulling out a laminated piece of card when she felt it. Corey read it out from over her shoulder.

"Martinez B," the Chimera announced.

Nodding, Mason switched on his phone and went through the list of names of Devenford Prep students, marking Martinez off with a red cross. Harper put the shoes and the tag back into the bag, shoving it back up into the correct place.

"Next one," Corey sighed.

"This is gonna take a while," Harper muttered, wishing that she had been put on a more exciting job rather than looking through teenage boy's sweaty gym clothes and shoes.

However, the whole pack agreed that she needed to take it easy for a bit. She couldn't really protest either since the thought it was a good idea too. Ideally, Harper should be at home right now resting her bruised body and trying to settle her mind, but she liked the distraction that came with dealing with the supernatural.

It had probably been about half an hour later. They'd gone through most of the bags by now, and every single name on Mason's phone had a red cross right next to it.

"This is ridiculous," the Empath huffed.

Mason nodded in agreement. "Twenty-five pairs of shoes and no blood."

Suddenly, the bus door began to creak open, causing all three teenagers to freeze. Harper immediately ducked under a pair of seats, about to hiss for Mason and Corey to follow when the Chimera grabbed the other boy and the seat. She watched in amazement as they disappeared- or more like blended into the scenery surrounding them.

Harper's breath hitched in her throat from where she was crouched down. She watched through the gap of the seats as a Devenford Prep student looked around in confusion before shaking his head to himself. Reaching up, he grabbed his duffel bag from the storage compartment and left the bus.

The brunette stood up, watching in amazement as Corey and Mason came back, both closer to each other than friends should be. She was about to recommend that they leave when they leaned in, grabbing each other's faces and locking lips. Harper's brows raised. She was definitely not expecting that.

This must be how our friends feel when Stiles and I make out all the time, she realised sheepishly. Note to self- stop making out with Stiles in public so much... Or maybe not.

"Um," she coughed awkwardly when they finished, causing them to turn with wide eyes. They'd completely forgotten that the senior girl was there. "Maybe we should leave now?"

"Yeah," Mason nodded quickly, "um, yeah. Let's go."

Harper was first off the bus, hoping to leave the two boys alone. She began to head back to the game when suddenly a high pitched tone shot out through the air, making her cry out. The brunette held her ears and winced, feeling where the wound in her head had been, start to thump- kind of like a reminder of what had happened.

She climbed up from behind one of the yellow school buses just as a dark figure came running towards her. Harper gasped when she realised that it was the Beast. It was pitch black and massive, its eyes glowing purple. It dove over the bus she was ducked by, another body smacking with it halfway.

Harper crawled out of her hiding spot as Liam's body collided with the floor a few feet in front of her.

"Liam!" She gasped.

Blood covered his body and he was barely conscious. Footsteps came running from behind the bus and Harper expected them to belong to Corey and Mason, except it was Stiles and Hayden. Hayden was first to her boyfriend, cupping his face as tears filled her eyes.

"You okay?" Stiles quickly looked at Harper who nodded swiftly. "Right. We need to get him up now. The Beast... the Beast's run into the school."

...

"On the desk, on the desk," Stiles ushered them quickly as the three teenagers pulled Liam into an empty classroom, away from all of the chaos that was going on.

Liam was screaming in agony as Harper began to pick up the things off of the said desk. Instead of waiting around, Stiles swiped everything off and onto the floor, making Harper freeze her actions. She dropped the things in her arms with the other stuff.

"That works too," she muttered.

The werewolf let out more cries of pain as Stiles helped Hayden lay him down across the wood. Harper could feel the ache in her chest and her stomach that was emitting from Liam and she knew for a fact that it wasn't good. Hayden peeled away the ripped jersey, gaping at his sliced flesh. It was a wonder he wasn't dead.

"What?" Liam cried, seeing the way the three teenagers grimaced. "Is it bad?"

"No, no," Hayden tried to reassure him while Stiles deadpanned, "it's bad. Very bad."

Hayden sent him a glare but quickly turned her attention back to Liam as he started to cough painfully. "Okay, okay. What do you guys usually do in these situations?"

"Um, I usually pass out," Stiles muttered, his hazel eyes rolling into the back of his head as he slowly added, "and I think I... still might... do that."

"Stiles," Harper held her arms out as he stumbled back a little. "Come on, you gotta stay up and help us."

Her boyfriend nodded quickly.

"Scott usually heals with pain," Harper tried to explain over the sounds of Liam's heavy breathing. "So, like, he would dig his claws into his leg or something. To trigger the healing process."

"He's already in pain!" Hayden snapped at the older girl.

"Do you have any other ideas on taking away the pain?" Harper retorted, starting to become equally as frustrated. 

"Take away the pain," Hayden muttered under her breath as if realising something.

Her hand moved to gently clasp underneath Liam's chin and she pulled him so that their lips met. Harper inwardly groaned. What was it with sophomores making out in front of her tonight? This can't of been what her, Scott, Allison and Stiles were like in their sophomore year... right?

Stiles reached to hold Harper's hand as they watched black veins travel from Liam's lips to Hayden's. They went up her cheeks, disappearing underneath her tan skin. When they finally pulled away, Liam was left panting slightly, a thin layer of sweat covering him. But he wasn't in pain anymore- Harper could feel it.

"Okay, next time, I'll kiss him," Stiles joked quietly, making Harper release a breathy chuckle.

...


	45. Chapter 45

Last night had ended both well and bad.

For starters, Scott had attacked the Beast in front of about fifty students and ended up getting badly hurt, but the good news was that he had caught a scent on the creature and now they knew who it was. Harper was more than shocked to discover that it was Mason Hewitt of all people.

When she woke up the next morning, her body was aching. She stepped into the bathroom and peeled off her clothes, staring at herself in the mirror with a frown. Bruises went all up and down her arms, some on her stomach. She gently touched a particularly bad one on her abdomen, hissing out in pain.

Suddenly, the bathroom door swung open from Scott's side, but it was too late for him not to see anything.

"Scott!" She yelled while the werewolf cried out in surprise, quickly covering his eyes.

Harper grabbed a towel from the rack and quickly wrapped it around herself, thankful that at least she was still in her bra and underwear. She cursed herself for not locking his side of the door like always. She just thought he would be up by now.

Scott lowered his hand, a frown on his face. "Wait, did I see bruises?"

"It's from the needles," Harper shrugged solemnly, "not a big deal, Scott. Just forget about it. Pretend you never saw anything."

"I can't pretend," Scott's eyes softened and he stepped into the bathroom further. "You don't have to bottle everything up, Harper. You can talk to us- all of us. You haven't really told anyone what happened while you were there. Not even Stiles."

"No offence, Scott, but I'm not going to, either," the brunette shook her head, "I don't want to talk about what happened with anyone."

The alpha exhaled loudly through his nose, admitting defeat. He watched her cautiously as she picked up a hairband, tying her hair up into a bun through the mirror.

Scott began to back out of the bathroom, "I'm here for you, Harper."

Harper watched him solemnly as he began to shut the door. "I appreciate it," she murmured.

Once it was locked, she released a sad sigh and dropped the towel. The Empath squirmed as she pulled on some tights and a black skirt as well as a burgundy blouse that she had lying around in her wardrobe. She would only be wearing long sleeves for a while, considering the fact that she wanted nobody to question the bruising.

When she put her makeup on and stepped out, Scott was already heading downstairs with his helmet tucked firmly under his arm. Harper followed, her brows furrowing together when she heard talking coming from the kitchen.

"My dad's got an APB out," she heard Stiles announce as she and Scott walked into the kitchen.

Isaac scoffed, "for a 5'8 sixteen-year-old?"

"I recommended nine-foot tall rampaging werewolf," the Stilinski boy replied, making Scott chuckle and shake his head.

"It still might not be him," Liam said, trying not to think about his best friend being the Beast. It was the last thing that he needed right now.

There was a silence as everybody stared at him. "But, Hayden's at the school looking."

"I can keep checking the woods," Malia offered.

"My mum can check all the hospitals in the county," Scott spoke up, making everybody turn to face him from where they had been huddled around the kitchen table. "We can find him."

"What happens then?" Liam asked worriedly.

"We figure out a way to save him," the alpha promised.

Lydia sighed, "okay. Where else could we look?"

"Corey. They seemed pretty close on the bus last night," Harper shrugged, "wherever he is now."

Scott tilted his head before his fist suddenly smacked to the side. Everybody's eyes widened as Scott's hands bunched around thin air which then morphed into the teenage boy Harper had suggested they go to.

"Wait, wait, it's not my fault!" Corey stammered, "they took him and I couldn't do anything. They took him-"

"Who?" Scott demanded.

"The Dread Doctors."

...

"Still nothing from Scott, Isaac and Liam," Stiles huffed as he walked back into the Sheriff's office where his father and Harper stood.

"Is this really a good idea?" Harper sighed.

"Nope," Stiles pursed his lips, shaking his head, "nobody thinks this is a good idea."

Sheriff Stilinski raised his eyebrows. "But you're trusting Theo anyway?"

"We're not trusting him, we're using him," Stiles reminded his father bitterly.

"Yeah and he's probably using us right back," Harper sent him a pointed look.

"But look, we're just trying to cover every place that Mason could show up," the Stilinski boy claimed, holding his hands up in defence. "Malia and Braeden are at your house."

"Melissa's at the hospital," Noah added.

"And Corey and Hayden are at the school," Harper bit down on her lip, glancing between the two Stilinski men. "So now we just gotta hope that whoever finds him first, finds Mason as Mason and not the Beast..."

The office door opened and Lydia came inside. "Hey," she greeted almost breathlessly like she had just rushed over. "Nobody has anything and Malia's just annoyed that she's trapped at your house with Braeden."

"Why is she there again?" Noah frowned.

"Because her mother, the Desert Wolf, is trying to kill her for her power. And Malia thinks that she's trying to kill Isaac, too," Lydia huffed.

...

"Scott told me, you know," Stiles murmured quietly from beside Harper, making her eyes flicker up to his. "I know you said that you don't want to talk about whatever happened at Eichen, but I need you to know that if you ever find yourself needing to let some steam off, I'm right here, Harper."

The brunette tilted her head, smiling lightly at him as he lifted her hand up from her lap, squeezing it gently. She felt comfort in the gesture.

"I'm always here for you," he promised, leaning in and pressing his lips to hers.

Harper placed her hand on his cheek, pulling him closer to her. At that particular moment in time, neither of the teenagers cared that they were at the Sheriff's Station kissing. Stiles' lips felt too amazing against her own for her to think too much. Besides, it wasn't like the two officers behind their computers were watching them.

"Ahem," Lydia coughed as she walked inside, flicking Stiles on the back of the head and making the couple part.

Huffing, Stiles budged up so that the strawberry blonde could sit down on the couch next to him. His hand still remained clasping Harper's, her head rested on his shoulder sleepily. Hours had gone by since they had arrived at the station, and so far there had been no updates on Mason.

"You okay?" Harper glanced at the banshee who kept releasing stressed sighs.

"Yeah, I just keep thinking: why Mason? I mean, he wasn't even on the Genetic Chimera list," Lydia mumbled.

"He is now," Melissa spoke, making all three teenagers jump. They hadn't even seen her walk inside. "Mason was born with twin embolization syndrome."

"You mean fetal absorption?" Lydia gaped as they moved over to the desk she had slapped the files onto. "He had a vanishing twin in utero?"

"Which counts for two sets of DNA," Melissa nodded, making Harper's brows raise.

"Can somebody please say it with words that have less than three syllables?" Stiles looked between the women, his eye twitching.

Harper winced, "basically, he ate his twin in the uterus."

"Oh, god," her boyfriend grimaced.

"But did it help?" Lydia looked to Scott's mum.

"I don't know," Melissa said. "But it's just bizarre enough to sound like it might be important, right?"

"I mean, it's gotta mean something," the brunette shrugged.

...

"Vanishing twin syndrome?" Deaton frowned, scanning over the sheets of paper that Stiles and Harper had given to them.

"You can help, right?" Harper asked hopefully as he placed the files down onto the metal slab in the middle of the room.

Stiles stood playing with his hands nervously, waiting for Deaton's reaction. He remained flicking through the paper, not for one moment appearing confident.

"This is not particularly in my expertise, no," Scott's boss sighed.

The door to the animal clinic suddenly burst open, making Harper, Stiles and Deaton turn around. Harper's eyes widened at the sight of Isaac and Scott hauling a Dread Doctor inside, Liam closing the door shut behind them.

"He's still alive," Isaac announced.

"Can you keep him alive?" Scott questioned once they had placed the Dread Doctor down onto the metal slab in the middle of the room, immediately forgetting about the whole twin-eating-in-the-uterus thing.

Deaton muttered, "I'm not sure he technically is alive."

"Screw keeping him alive," Liam spat, thinking of what they had done to Mason, "how do we get them to talk?"

They'd found the poor boy in the Dread Doctor's lap, a tube from a fluid connected to his back. Mason was in agony every time they tried to remove it, and the Dread Doctors put up a fight trying to keep Mason in place.

"Personally, I don't think we utilize torture nearly enough," Stiles scoffed.

Suddenly, the werewolves in the room all went silent, their eyes turning towards the exit of the animal clinic.

"You guys hear that?" Isaac whispered.

They froze again. Harper and Stiles exchanged confused glances, both having no idea what was going on.

Suddenly, the Dread Doctor lurched into a sitting position, releasing a frequency so high it made everything rattle.

The teenagers and Deaton all stumbled back, holding their ears and crying out in pain. Stiles grabbed Harper, ducking him beneath his body as they both clamped their ears shut.

Harper couldn't hear anything over the buzzing, her mind going dizzy as she watched the Dread Doctor start to walk towards the exit. Liam growled and got ready to follow. She faintly heard Scott yell at him, but the Dread Doctor turned, holding up his hand. He released some blue force field, making the young beta fly across the room and smack painfully into the wall.

Once it had made it outside, the door slammed and the lights blew, sparks flying everywhere. The metal in the room began to rumble, rising slightly into the air.

Stiles released his ears and grabbed Harper yet again, tucking her with him into the corner of the room just as everything flew up and blocked the doors- the metal tables and all.

"Stop!" Deaton ordered as the werewolves began rushing towards the blocked exit. "It's electrified."

He pointed to the sparks bursting in the corner above the metal pileup just as Harper and Stiles rose from their ducked position, still clasping each other's arms. Scott, Liam and Isaac listened out for whatever was going on outside.

"The cane," Scott suddenly muttered, "the Argents- they took the pike."

...

"Maybe there's something in here," Scott flipped through Mason's file. "Something about how he was a Genetic Chimera."

Harper bit her lip, "Mason had a vanishing twin."

"Now we have a vanishing Mason," Stiles retorted, glancing at his girlfriend.

"What does that have to do with him turning into a two-hundred-and-fifty-year-old French guy?" Liam asked worriedly. "How does that even happen?"

"Hold on," Deaton glanced at the alpha, "Scott might have something. Mason's twin wasn't entirely gone. That's what made him a Genetic Chimera."

"The DNA was still there," Harper muttered.

Deaton nodded, "yes. Metaphorically speaking, the DNA of Mason could still be inside Sebastien as well."

"How?" Stiles screwed his face up.

"Life is energy. Energy doesn't just disappear," the veterinarian continued to explain, making small hand gestures. "The Dread Doctors may have found a way to break the rules of the supernatural world, but there are some rules that simply won't break."

"So Mason can't just be gone?" Isaac asked.

"Somewhere in Sebastien, he has to exist in some form," Deaton agreed while Stiles picked up the Dread Doctor's mask that it had left behind. "A spark of energy, a flicker of memory."

Stiles paused, "hang on. Liam, you said Mason said something right before he turned."

"He said 'that's not my name'," Liam confirmed.

"He finally remembered his name," Scott realised.

"Damnatio Memoriae," the teenage girl mumbled to herself, recalling the story that Lydia had told them last night after she had spoken to the Argents about Parrish.

"That's what they wanted!" Liam suddenly burst. "They wanted Sebastien to remember his name."

"Scott," Deaton looked to the alpha of the pack, "you know the myth of what happens when you call a werewolf by its given name?"

"It turns back to human."

"What does that mean?" Isaac frowned, folding his arms across his cardigan-clad chest. "So, someone can just walk up to the Beast, yell Mason's name and turn him back?"

"Not someone."

Harper's lips parted, her eyes brightening with realisation. "A banshee! Lydia."

Only seconds after the name fell from her lips did she feel like claws had punctured her neck. She groaned, her hand reaching up to touch it. The boys all watched with horror in their eyes as she pulled her hand away, taking blood with it.

"It's her," Harper spoke with a rasped voice as Stiles quickly grabbed some cloth, handing it to her, "he already got to her."

...

"Lyds," Harper gently pulled Lydia's hand away from her stomach, holding it firmly.

The strawberry blonde's eyes flickered open, managing a small smile on her pale face when she saw her best friend stood there. A gauze was wrapped around her neck, some blood seeping through. Harper frowned, leaning over to stroke some of her hair out of her face.

"D-did you find a solution?" Lydia croaked, her voice making Harper wince a little.

"Yeah," Harper squeezed her hand a little tighter. "It's you, Lydia. You're the solution."

She sighed when she realised that that was not really the case anymore. Lydia couldn't talk properly, and as long as that was happening, she couldn't yell for Mason. Liam was starting to lose hope from where he was in the waiting room talking to Scott- Harper could feel it.

Liam and Scott helped prop Lydia upright on the bed while Isaac, Stiles and Harper stood to the side, watching as Melissa moved over, shutting the door firmly behind her. She walked to the teenage girl in pain.

"Lydia, we're going to have to keep this between us, since I can get fired for it," Melissa muttered, making the banshee nod.

"It's a cortisone shot," Scott explained soothingly, "it's going to make the inflammation go down."

Harper looked away slightly when she saw the needle come out, practically feeling every bruise on her body ache- and there were a lot of them. Stiles noticed and moved to stand closer to Harper, his hand gently moving to go around her waist. Lydia held her wrist out.

"Not there," Melissa shook her head, pointing at the neck.

Wincing, Lydia ripped off some of the gauze, groaning as she did so. Harper's breath hitched and she noticed even Stiles look a little queasy from beside her.

"Okay, I think we're going to need to leave-" Her boyfriend began.

"Oh, you two aren't going anywhere," Melissa shook her head again. "Harper, hold her hand please."

Gulping, Harper moved closer and took her best friend's hand, but she looked away from the scene that was going on. She knew Melissa didn't mean it in a harsh way- only Stiles and Scott knew about the needles because they had seen the bruises. She didn't want to talk about it.

"Mom," Scott's eyes softened when he saw the look on Harper's face. "Maybe Harper should-"

"No, no," Harper gave Lydia's hand a gentle squeeze, knowing she wanted to be there for the girl. "It's okay."

Scott and Stiles both glanced towards each other, Stiles pursing his lips and sending the werewolf a nod to indicate he believed it when Harper said she would be okay. The two boys glanced at their best friend, watching as Harper straightened up, rubbing soothing circles on Lydia's pale hand.

"Okay, Lydia, this is gonna hurt like a bitch," Melissa muttered just as Liam passed out.

Scott jumped straight into action, moving towards his beta as the needle went into Lydia's neck. Harper didn't watch but she heard the gasps of pain that came from the strawberry blonde, making her cringe.

...

"We're gonna go get Malia," Harper squeezed Lydia's arm as the elevator dinged, the doors sliding open.

Liam and Scott held onto her either side, Isaac's face blanking at the mention of his ex-girlfriend. Harper could feel his concern though. She knew that he wanted to know if she was okay or not, he was just too stubborn to admit it.

"Come on, Isaac," Stiles huffed, clearly thinking the same thing, "text us when you find Parrish, Scott."

"Wait," Scott grabbed Isaac's wrist before he could leave, making the werewolf turn around. He placed a cylinder wrapped parcel in his hand.

"What is it?" Isaac asked, brows furrowed in confusion.

"Something I've been working on for a while," the alpha explained briefly. "Just make sure Malia gets it."

"Is it plan B?" Isaac questioned.

"It was plan A."

"Plan A never works," Stiles scoffed.

"This one will."

Harper tugged on Stiles' wrist, pulling him in the direction of the exit. Isaac took off running after them, on their way to get the werecoyote.

...

Isaac was the first to push open the door to the McCall household, his eyes widening when he saw the sight in front of him. A woman, who they all assumed was the Desert Wolf, pointed her gun up at the teenage boy.

"Seriously?" he muttered.

Malia suddenly came out of nowhere, grabbing her ex-boyfriend and pushing him out of the way as a gunshot went off. Harper gasped, pulling Stiles with her so that they were ducked by the door of the house, out of sight of the woman.

They heard the fighting continue, grunts coming from both women until the living room table smashing everywhere caught their attention.

"We gotta do something," Harper glanced at her boyfriend worriedly, "her mum's gonna kill her."

"I'm gonna do something," Isaac growled, standing up from the floor. His eyes began to glow bright yellow, his claws flicking out.

He released a roar and charged at the Desert Wolf, gasping out in pain when she slid her claws into his stomach and chucked him across the room. He landed on all of the glass, a large shard sticking through his chest.

"Isaac!" Malia yelled.

It went silent for a moment before a gunshot went off. Malia stumbled into the hallway by the door, holding her chest as she groaned in pain. Harper's hand was clamped over her mouth as she watched the Desert Wolf shot her again- this time in the back as the werecoyote tried to run down the hall.

The older woman stood with her back to Stiles and Harper who were hiding behind the door frame. Harper glanced at Stiles but he shook his head quickly, tightening his hold on her wrist. He knew that she wanted to help Malia, but it was only going to end with her getting killed.

"It's not the full moon, Malia," the Desert Wolf sighed, "but you know what? It's close enough."

Isaac suddenly came crawling out of the living room, glass still stuck in him as he threw the jar that Scott had given him to Malia. Malia caught it as the Desert Wolf dropped the gun after shooting her a third time and backing her into a corner.

The older woman's eyes glowed blue as she dug her claws into Malia's stomach. "I want my power back," she growled.

"And I want my family back," Malia grunted before shoving the claws from the jar back into her own mother.

They watched as Malia's mum groaned, the light in her eyes fading. She backed away, about to run out the door when Braeden came out of nowhere, smacking her in the face with a gun and knocking her out.

...

It was over.

Everything was finally over. Mason was back, Kira had sent Theo underground, Malia was safe... Everything was finally going back to normal again.

"You know, when we started this school year, I was so stressed about everyone ending up in the same place after we graduate, but I don't think it matters," Stiles told Harper as they walked side by side down the hall together, "you know, we always seem to find each other anyway."

"Hmm," Harper smiled softly, "it's almost like you listened to me when I told you that."

He chuckled, shaking his head as he wrapped one of his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him as they avoided everybody else walking.

"Even Allison," he said, making her pause in her tracks. "Scott didn't tell you? It was in the tunnels... When Sebastien had his hands around Scott's throat. The guy probably didn't even know what he was doing. His claws got into Scott's neck. He was going to kill him, but then he stopped and he said a name: Marie-Jeanne."

Harper's lips parted in disbelief, "he saw Scott's memories."

"He saw Allison," Stiles nodded in confirmation.

"They must have looked exactly like each other," Harper smiled a little at the thought, memories of one of her best friends flooding her brain.

"She saved him," Stiles smiled back. "Allison saved his life."

"You know I haven't dreamt about her since the whole dead pool incident? Neither has Lydia," Harper hummed as Stiles flung his arm over her shoulder while they walked down the hall.

"Weren't Deaton and Lydia looking into that?"

"I think so.... Lydia only found out we were connected when we slept for a bit, but that was it because then the whole Kate thing happened," Harper huffed, "I wonder what the dreams meant... And I wonder what it means now that they've stopped too."

"Maybe Allison's at peace now," Stiles suggested softly, watching as his girlfriend's brown eyes filled with tears at the thought.

Harper grabbed his hand as they made their way to the library, chucking their bags on the floor and sitting in their seats around a table. A hand suddenly clamped down on Stiles' shoulder, making them both look up. Scott grinned down at his two best friends before taking a seat.

The three original members of Scott's pack sat around the table, smiling at each other as they pulled their books out. After everything they had been through this senior year, they always seemed to find themselves back with each other.

"Can I make an announcement please," Scott spoke dramatically, but quiet enough to not disturb anyone else in the library as he tapped his pencil against his water bottle as if he was toasting. "I'd like to thank my two best friends in the whole wide world for sicking by me since we were ten years old."

Harper and Stiles both snickered, amused as they watched their best friend go on.

"I'd like to thank Stiles Stilinski for figuring all this werewolf stuff out in the first place, and Harper Verum for always being the voice of reason and making sure we don't all fall apart," Scott continued jokingly. "But mainly I would like to thank myself. Cause let's face it, without me, both your lives would be boring as hell."

Harper grinned, teeth and all. "That it would," she patted on top of his hand.

Stiles rolled his eyes jokingly, "it'd be a lot easier too."

"Hey!" Scott smacked Stiles' arm, causing the Stilinski boy to release a whine and hold said body part.

"Ouch!" He scoffed, "dude, werewolf strength! Whatever. I have thanks to say of my own."

Scott placed his chin on his hand, leaning into Stiles' face as he grinned like a school girl. "Go on, compliment me. What do you love most about me? My dazzling smile? My solid abs-"

"Your wonky ass jaw," Stiles teased back, making Scott feign hurt. "Scott, buddy, thanks for always looking out for me and our friends, you're the best, but you do suck still cause you've never seen Star Wars before." He looked to Harper, causing the girl to also place her chin on her hands expectantly. "Harper, you're really hot and you watch Star Wars with me which is even hotter. Thanks for taking my virginity."

Scott and Harper both burst out laughing, causing people around them to hush them immediately. Stiles snickered too, watching how his best friends fell back in their chairs, their bodies shaking as they silently laughed.

"On the subject of toasts," Harper cleared her throat, causing both boys to look to her. "I want to thank the two of you too. For being my first ever friends when I moved here, for saving my ass on multiple occasions and for being the two most important men in my life."

Scott awed, nudging Harper as he smiled poutily. Stiles grinned further.

"That one was actually sweet!" Scott cooed.

"But I am the most important man in your life, right?" Her boyfriend raised his brows cheekily.

"No, it's obviously her brother," Scott puffed his chest out proudly.

"So it's me then," Isaac smirked as he appeared out of nowhere, taking the seat next to Harper and clamping a hand down on her shoulder. "I feel so privileged, Verum."

Malia and Lydia came over, sitting down on the sides of the table. The werecoyote immediately reached for the packet of sweets that was on the middle of the table, shovelling a handful into her mouth.

"What are we talking about?" Malia asked muffledly, mouth still full.

"Just appreciating each other, and everything we've been through," Scott made eye contact with Harper and Stiles, memories of that night in the woods coming to mind- all the way to this moment in time. "Can't believe we went from three friends to nine."

"There's only six of us at this table," Lydia retorted.

"No, no. Me, Stiles, Harper, you, Malia, Isaac, Kira, Liam... and Allison," Scott spoke softly, a slight smile across his features as the pack stared back, nodding gently.

There was a small silence as they all remembered the girl they missed so dearly, Malia glancing around sympathetically at her friends. From what the werecoyote understood, Allison was a badass who died saving her friends and Malia could respect that. She wished she'd known her.

"Now our biggest challenge," Harper held up her textbook, grinning cheekily at the others. "Surviving the rest of senior year."

"Ugh, don't," Stiles groaned at the thought, making everyone laugh.

If only they'd known how right Harper had been; senior year wasn't going to get any better for the pack, especially not for a certain couple in particular.

finished march 18 2019 | this book is finished !!


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